


Seconds to break

by reveetoile



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Children, Getting Back Together, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-02-19 12:17:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 56,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22844170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reveetoile/pseuds/reveetoile
Summary: One day there is a baby on the doorstep of Ohno’s and Nino’s apartment. A letter reveals Ohno as the father and this story is about gaining trust again while trying to adjust to the new addition in his life.
Relationships: Ninomiya Kazunari/Ohno Satoshi
Comments: 157
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ohno was not really cheating on Nino since they were not together when the one-night-stand with the woman happened. But it happened relatively close to them getting together.

Nino giggled as arms circled around him and drew him against a warm body. He wriggled around, ignoring the grumbling from Ohno. 

“Let me go!”

“I wanna sleep.”

“You can if you let me go.”

“No, I need my teddy bear,” Ohno whined as he nuzzled his face against Nino’s neck, who huffed slightly at the strange feeling. 

“Well, tough luck. I need to get ready for work. And it’s your fault that I need to shower before leaving home, so let me go.”

He managed to slip out of Ohno’s arms, giggling at the grabbing hands from his lover and moving further from the bed to the safety to the door. 

Ohno looked up at him with pouting lips, but much to Nino’s amusement he climbed out of bed. He shuddered when his bare feet met the cold tiles of their floor, but he stood, and Nino smiled as he watched him. 

“You can stay in bed, you know?”

“Later, I want to see you off. Go shower, I prepare breakfast.”

“Coffee would be more than enough,” Nino said as he was pushed out of the bedroom by his shoulders. 

“Breakfast,” Ohno said again as he opened the bathroom for him. Nino sighed but nodded as Ohno pressed a kiss to his naked shoulder. He sighed happily at the coarse feeling of the hairs that had started to grow on Ohno’s chin and then stepped under the spray of the shower, washing away the signs of what they had done just the night before. 

By the time Nino was back in the kitchen he was almost sure that Ohno had fallen back to sleep, but the other man was sitting at the table, holding a mug between his hands and taking small sips of his warm coffee. Nino smiled as he sat down to drink his own coffee and eat the bread Ohno had put in front of him as the older left the room to go brush his teeth. 

Nino played a game on his phone while waiting for Ohno when the doorbell rang. He blinked in confusion as he looked up. When he went to the living room, he was met with a confused stare of Ohno coming from the bathroom, his toothbrush still in his mouth.

“Did you miss his call?”

“No, manager-san hasn’t called me yet, and he isn’t supposed to arrive for another half an hour or so,” he said, grinning slightly when Ohno pouted as he realised that they could’ve stayed in bed longer.

“I’ll go check. Get cleaned up,” Nino said with a sigh. Maybe a neighbour had a problem, or their landlord wanted something. Still strange, but if it was an emergency, it would make sense if they appeared in front of their apartment without warning beforehand. 

He opened the door, expecting someone on the other side to see… nothing. He blinked in confusion for a moment, thinking that he might’ve imagined the doorbell - if not for Ohno having heard it as well. They were not that overworked that they would have hallucinations at the same time. 

He heard some rustling and still in a perplexed state of mind, his eyes wandered down to see a basket on their doorstep. 

“What the…?” he mumbled to himself, staring up when Ohno reappeared behind him. 

“Who was it?”

“Nobody?” Nino said, slowly turning back and trying to close the door when a cry came from the bundle on their floor. Okay, so no hallucinations. He rubbed his nose as he opened the door closer for Ohno to come by and have a look for who was causing the noise. 

“What is that?”

“A baby?” Nino mumbled as he groaned when the wailing got louder. He picked up the basket and pushed Ohno inside so that they wouldn’t disturb their neighbours too much, or even worse: Get some strange looks, Nino could just imagine the headlines and how Johnny would react. The higher-ups of their agency would have a field day.

“I can see that,” Ohno said as he stepped back so that Nino could put the basket on the table and pick up the bundle inside to rock it in his arms and get to calm it down. “I meant: Why is there a baby in front of the door?”

Nino rolled his eyes, happy that the wailing has stopped. “I don’t know, Oh-chan. It’s not a daily occurrence for me either.”

“Sorry,” Ohno mumbled, still standing helplessly beside his lover. 

“Could you please check if there is something inside that?”

“Yes, sorry, you want to put it down.”

“Oh-chan, please, I love you, I’m just as exhausted as you are but could you not call a little human being it?”

“But we don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy,” Ohno said with a pout evident in his voice as he pulled the basket closer and check it. “You are just sensitive because your sister just got a baby boy and I said he looked like an alien.”

“He did not!”

“He did,” Satoshi said with a small snort. “Your sister agreed with me, actually.” He grinned slightly at the memory. They had managed to visit Nino’s sister just two hours after she had given birth and the baby boy had looked ugly then. Of course, that didn’t last long, and now he was a cute little infant but then it had been different. Also, Ohno had never seen a baby so shortly after birth. He had been surprised at how small babies actually were. They looked bigger in movies. 

“There is a letter,” Ohno announced as his hands touched the paper. He pulled it out and then putting the blankets in order again so that Nino could put the baby in as well. The small human had already fallen asleep, and Nino groaned as he sat down. 

“Check it, and then we should probably call the police? God who do you call when a baby appears on your threshold?”

“I honestly don’t know. Maybe your manager knows more?”

Nino’s eyes widened as his eyes fell to his watch. “Shit!” he swore a bit too loudly for the baby who got grumbly again. Ohno carefully rocked the basket as Nino shot to his feet again, running to the bedroom to change into proper clothing. “Read the letter!”

“Yes, yes,” Ohno mumbled as he unfolded the paper and read the few scribbled lines. His brows furrowed, and he felt himself pale the further he got.

**_Satoshi,  
You might choose not to remember me, but I present you with your son.   
I have had enough of him, all he does is crying, and I was not meant to be held back by a baby. He was an accident that I realised too late was on his way. I nursed him as is expected of me, but I don’t want to deal with him anymore. I don’t need money, I won’t go to press - as if they would believe me anyway.   
Until then,   
Sophie  
_ **

Nino came back to the room, his brows furrowed when he saw Ohno sitting on the sofa, his face pale and his eyes wide. “What is wrong?”

“The letter says it’s mine,” Ohno choked out. 

“What but you… It can’t be Oh-chan,” Nino said as he stared at the baby and then back at his lover. “You would’ve had to sleep with a woman for that… Around a year ago.”

“A year and nine months ago…”

Nino stared down at Ohno, who met his eyes just so. Nino’s eyes widened as he saw the guilt in the other’s eyes as he stumbled back. He felt as if all the air was squeezed out of him. Before either of the men could say anything, the sharp ringtone from his cellphone cut the silence and Nino scrambled to the door to put on his shoes and flee from the apartment, ignoring any cries of his name from his lover as he felt his heart break inside his chest.

A/N: I think they are a bit cold to the baby XD but it’s all on automatic mode right now. I hope it’s okay…


	2. Chapter 2

His phone had started ringing as soon as he had entered the car and greeted his manager. Kondo-san had just nodded and then started the car. Luckily his manager was almost as bad with mornings as Jun was.

Nino groaned as the ringing went up again and then finally put it on silence so that he couldn’t hear it. 

“Is everything okay, Ninomiya-san?”

“Yes, just my sister who wants to get me into babysitting on the weekend,” he mumbled as he put the phone away. He laid his head against the headrest and stared out of the window as he heard the woman chuckle slightly. 

“And you had looked forward to the free time,” she said, to which he hummed in agreement. 

Nino closed his eyes when he felt the annoying sting that hinted of the tears that wanted to fall. He needed to focus now, breaking down was for later. 

—

Ohno stared at the boy who was thankfully still asleep in shock and wonder. What should he do? Maybe call the police? Or a child service? Still, he couldn’t help himself as he redialled Nino’s number just to reach voicemail directly now. 

“Please, call me. I’m sorry,” Ohno whispered, before ending the call and rubbing his eyes. It was his fault. He knew that. Nino wouldn’t have run out if he had said that he didn’t sleep with a woman, but that would have been stupid and a lie. Ohno couldn’t remember a lot about that night, but he knew that he woke up beside a woman in the early morning hours. A woman Ohno couldn’t place at that time, and he had vanished without saying goodbye feeling bad about what had apparently happened. Ohno hadn’t drunk alcohol for months afterwards, and even now he was careful with the amount if he was not with one of the other members or his family. 

A child was possible, he supposed with a frown. Why should someone place a baby on their doorstep if it wasn’t the truth? If it was just a ploy to get money, it would make more sense to write letters or go to the papers. 

Ohno sank down on the sofa, his eyes still locked on the baby, without really seeing it. Children had never been a priority for him, being with Nino had wiped out every thought of having children entirely out of his mind,. Even his mother had accepted it, even if she had wished for grandchildren from both of her children. 

He stayed at his spot for a long time, just staring into space, hoping that the bundle in front of him was just a bad dream that he would wake up from it soon or that the bundle would just vanish out of his sight. He jumped in fright when his phone rang, and he hurried to answer it when he saw Nino’s name appearing on the screen. 

“Nino… I’m…”

“Stop,” Nino cut him before he could even finish the sentence, not that he had a plan on how to finish it precisely. He held his breath as he heard the tremble in his voice, praying for the next words to be anything but what he feared the most. 

“I can’t deal with this now. I want you to move out by tonight when I’m home. I will make sure to pack your things so that you can get them another time. Just… I don’t want to see you or him tonight, or tomorrow, or anytime in the near future.”

“But… It might not mine.”

“Did or did you sleep not with a woman?”

Ohno bit his lips as he kept silent. He wanted to deny it so badly, but how? “I can’t remember,” he said in the end. 

“That doesn’t make it better exactly. Leave Ohno, please.”

Ohno bit his lips as he closed his eyes. He wanted to argue, he wanted to stay and plead with the other, but… But he couldn’t hurt Nino like that right now. “Can’t we talk about this? Us?”

“Not right now.”

“Okay…”

“Go to your parents. I’m sure your mother will help you to work this all out. And even if I don’t want to see you right now, I don’t want you to burden yourself too much.”

“I will. Mum will know what to do about the baby.” He bit his tongue when Nino took a sharp intake of breath at the mention of the boy. 

“Yes. You need to figure out what to do with him and who he is. I finish work at around five pm. Be gone by then.”

“Yeah,” Ohno mumbled, even if the call had disconnected already. He rubbed his eyes, to stop the tears and got up to throw some things into a bag. He would honour Nino’s wish even if it broke his heart doing so. He grabbed the basket after calling for a cab, leaving the place he treasured so much now. 

—

Ohno opened the door to his family home, putting the basket down as he took off his shoes. “Mum, it’s me!” he called out as to not scare the woman. He never rang the bell to be let inside if he was alone, his mother had always scolded him at the beginning when he did.

He entered the living room, where his mother was sitting and knitting something. “One minute,” she mumbled and then finished the row, before looking at him. She got up to hug him tightly and kiss his cheeks. “How nice of you to come to visit me. Do you want tea?” she asked already halfway to the kitchen. Ohno trailed after his mother, sitting down at the table. His mother busied herself with the kettle, and soon enough, there were two cups of tea on the table, and his mother sat across of him. Her smile slowly turned into a frown as she took him in fully. 

“What happened?”

“Kazu and I had a fight,” Ohno mumbled as he stared into his cup. 

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sure that you will work this out soon. You and Kazunari are made for each other. Whatever silly you both fought about will be forgotten soon.”

“I don’t think that is possible,” he whispered as he rubbed his face. “Mum, I made a huge mistake.”

“What are you talking about?”

Ohno breathed in deeply as he closed his eyes for a second. “I slept with a woman around a year ago. Nino and I weren’t really together then. I forgot about it totally and now…”

Keiko stared at him for a second in silence before she jumped to her feet as the realisation came over her. “Don’t tell me?”

“Congratulations, you are a grandmother?” he tried miserably as he burrowed his face in his hands. “There was a baby boy on the threshold of the apartment. There was a letter saying it’s my son. Nino told me to take him and leave the apartment. I didn’t know how to argue so I did what he wanted. I took the baby and came here.”

“You took him and where is he now?”

“At the entryway,” Ohno said meekly as he remembered that he had put the basket down and forgotten it. “I forgot it in the basket.” 

“Satoshi!” the woman said louder, and he jumped to his feet to run out of the room and to the entryway to pick up the basket and bring it inside. 

“Sorry, I… God I don’t know what is wrong with me.”

“That is what I want to know also. You, my son, will call the child’s service now, explain that there is a child on your doorstep, with a letter declaring it’s yours. They will tell you what to do next. I would say you should do a test to make sure, though. And I will go out get formula and diapers for a child. Oh and you could try to call either your sister or Ninomiya-chan to ask for baby clothes,” she said with a serious look on her face.

“You can’t leave me alone with it. I don’t know what to do.”

“You had childminder’s training. I’m sure you can muddle through. And if you call a little baby one more time it, I will honestly hit you. It doesn’t matter what happened or how you ended up with a baby, and maybe this is all an honest mistake, and you now have to deal with this chaos you created a year ago. It’s not and never will be this little boy’s fault.”

“Yes, mum,” he mumbled as he watched her collecting bags and things she needed to go to the shop. He would beg her to change with him, letting him handle the shopping and take care of the baby. But one, he was scared that she would yell at him for trying to get out of this mess, and second, he would never know what a baby that age would need.

A/N: I really hope that this flows better soon.


	3. Chapter 3

“You look stressed,” Kondo said as Nino fell on the sofa in the green room with a sigh. She stood as soon as he had appeared and prepared a cup of tea for him. 

“Everything is alright,” he sighed as he stared at his phone. He wasn’t sure that it was worth it to play games if Ohno didn’t listen to him and continued to send him messages. Another day he probably would appreciate it but not today. Today he needed to concentrate on his schedule as to not inconvenience many other people. “Just not as pumped up as I should be considering the amount of work all lined up in front of me.”

She chuckled as she offered the cup to him. He thanked her silently as he took the tea and sighed softly at the fragrance. The woman sucked at preparing coffee, but her tea was always perfect.

He played with the phone in his hand, moving it around with his fingers, before deciding to turn it on. His fingers hovered over the little letter symbol. Then he decided against opening them. It would just feel like a punishment for him. But since he couldn’t stop looking at the small symbol that meant he had unread messages, he marked them all as read before opening his game on the phone and trying to play them. But his fingers moved hesitantly, and Nino knew he was far away from any chances on high-scores he usually achieved. He tried hard to ignore his manager but could feel her eyes still on him. 

“You are looking awfully pale as well.” 

“I’m fine, really, Kondo-san.”

“It’s our job to worry about you lot. You especially tend to overwork yourself,” she scolded, and he pouted playfully at her. 

“I’m a grown man now, just to let you know.”

“You? You are more like a toddler than a grown man,” she teased right back. 

He stuck out his tongue as he finished the tea and stood as he was called by the staff for the next photo-shooting. 

“Ninomiya-san?” Kondo called as he was already half-way out of the door. 

“Yes?”

“Do your best for today, and I will juggle your other things for the rest of the week. There aren’t many and if you won’t mind a bit more next week…”

“I don’t want to bring your problems.”

The woman shrugged slightly. “It’s my job to make your life easier, and it will be more troublesome if you get ill.”

Nino blinked at the offer, thinking it through. On the one hand, it would be nice to have a distraction. However, he knew that he would be unhappy if he didn’t give his best. He hesitated a second longer, but then he nodded with a small smile. 

“Thank you,” Nino said. If he didn’t have to be here, he wouldn’t have to fear to run into Ohno at the agency. Also, he really didn’t want to acknowledge all the stress and things that would be going on when it was out that Ohno had a child.

—

It was late in the evening when Nino stepped out of Kondo’s car. He felt exhausted, and he felt sluggish in a way that only hard days at work and a slight fever could bring. He bowed low in front of Kondo as he stood in the open door, looking into a worried face. 

“Thank you for your hard work,” Kondo said after a few moments they watched each other in silence.

“You as well,” Nino said with a smile. He patted his pockets to make sure that he had everything and didn’t miss anything in the car. Usually, it wouldn’t be a problem, but he really didn’t want to make the woman come back the next few days to bring him his things. 

“Rest properly and call me if you need anything.” 

Nino rolled his eyes at her words. “I have a mother, I don’t need another. But thank you,” he grinned as he waved and hurried up his apartment. Besides he had Ohno to take care of him, he thought. Their fight from the morning gone from his mind for the moment. 

With all the work and stress piling up today he had for the moment forgotten that Ohno would not wait for him as soon as he opened the door. 

“I’m home,” he shouted as soon as he opened the door to his home and slipped out of his shoes. He stopped in his tracks as there was no answer and that it was strangely silent and dark in here. 

There were no shoes of Ohno in the entryway either, nor his coat or the bag where he stowed his things. But the second key was still on the small owl hangers on the side. 

It felt as if he was hit by a hammer as the memories of this morning came rushing back. He could feel the pain almost physical as he stumbled back and hit the door behind him with a bang. His hand pressed against his lips as he bit back a sob. 

Right. Ohno was gone just as he had asked him to. 

It was painful, but at the same time, Nino felt some sort of relief in his heart that Ohno had listened to him. That even now he took his feelings into consideration. These thoughts though made the sting only stronger. 

Nino bit back the tears burning behind the eyes as he slipped out of his shoes and went into the living room. 

His eyes wandered over the sofa and the small table where the basket had stood when he left. Ohno wasn’t there as he had thought, but there was also no sign of the boy from this morning, and for a moment it was all a bad dream in Nino’s mind, but he could still remember the cries of the baby that he wished wouldn’t exist. 

In a way, Nino felt very sorry about the little guy that had been thrown at Ohno. His mother hadn’t wanted him, and Ohno hadn’t known about the existence. 

Ohno probably didn’t want him either, but Nino knew that his former lover was a kind-hearted man and Nino also knew that he would never forgive him if Ohno would hold it all against a small innocent baby. And Ohno would know his thoughts in that regard. He was sure of it. 

His feet led him to the bathroom where he pulled off his clothes, a small smile slipped on his face just for a second as he saw that Ohno had prepared a bath for him with the settings on so that the water was kept warm for the whole day warm. He would moan about the bill later, but for now, he was thankful for the thoughtfulness. 

So Nino slipped into the warm water, not denying his body the comforts of warm water hugging his strangely cold body. He closed his eyes and drew his legs close to himself. He tried very hard not to think about his break-up too much, but it was hard. 

The tears still burned his eyes, and slowly he lost the fight against them. He felt them prickle in the side of his eyes and sniffled slightly.

“You bloody idiot,” he whispered into the silence of the room, and for the moment he didn’t know if he was talking about himself or about Ohno, honestly. Sobs racked his body soon after as he pressed his face close to the drawn knees as to hide them from the cold, cruel world around him.

The water was already cold when Nino forced himself out of the tub. His eyes burned from the tears he had cried, and he felt even more exhausted than before. More than he had thought was possible. 

It was cold in his flat, but he didn’t feel it as he wandered naked to their - no now his - bedroom and fell still slightly wet onto the bed. 

Nino rolled onto his side, pulling the blanket over him as he burrowed his face into the sheets. They still smelled like Ohno. His whole bed smelled like him; he realised as he rolled over and over, trying to find a spot that was not Ohno. Tears were again running over his cheeks at his failure. For a second, he wondered how many tears one person could cry over the course of one day, but no one would be able to answer him right now.


	4. Chapter 4

Ohno stared at the boy who was still asleep in the basket as if he was a bomb about to go off. He really didn’t want him to cry, he always hated crying children, and even if he joked around that he wouldn’t mind with his own child, he wasn’t too sure about it. He rubbed his face as he at least made sure that the boy was breathing and that the blanket was not over his face to make sure that nothing would happen to him. 

Ohno stared at the peaceful face, trying to remember that woman he had slept with all that time ago. It was a diffuse memory, and there was no way that the small young face helped him to do so. He was cute though, he supposed and looked healthy so far.

He grimaced as he took the phone in his hand. This call he was really not looking forward to, but he was sure that his mother would have his head if he hadn’t called the agency before she came back. 

Ohno listened to the noises from his phone until the click told him that his manager answered it. 

“Ohno-san, can I do something for you?” Takahashi asked, and Ohno sighed softly. 

“Takahashi-san. There is a situation, and I’m very sorry for all the trouble I am going to cause right now,” he said carefully biting his lips softly. 

“What is it about?”

And Ohno really wished he was back to his young self who would just turn off his phone, hide away and never appear again until this was all over. But this would only be over in around eighteen years, and there was no way that he would be able to do that or even wanted to do that. Getting his life together again would mean that he could fight for Nino, and that was the most important thing right now. 

Still, it was hard to find the right words to not shock the other too much, but there was no soft way to bring it to Takahashi’s attention, he supposed. 

“This morning I woke to a baby on my doorstep. There was also a letter going with it, saying it’s mine. The signature was from someone I slept with almost two years ago. It would fit the age the baby seems to be,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what to do now without causing trouble to the agency and Arashi.”

There was silence on the other end for a long time, and Ohno was sure that something had broken into the other. He remembered their contracts, of course. It could bring them many problems, and a few years prior Ohno would have been very scared about this all when Arashi had poorly done the agency would have probably quickly disbanded them. Now, he wasn’t so sure. He had no idea what would happen soon, but he hoped that the others were safe. 

“Are you sure?”

“That I slept with her? No, I, honestly it was a bad time, and I was drunk and everything but…”

“But it’s not impossible, I see, Ohno-san. That will be troublesome. Let me handle this and expect me in two hours the latest. You are not allowed to leave the house.”

“I’m at my mother’s place,” he said, feeling inadequate as he thought about the other paling at the thought of him being out with a baby. But he had a sister and cousins, and he had been sure to wear a real disguise. This time he had really made sure to not be recognised easily outside. 

“Okay, stay there, for now, I’ll be there soon.”

“Yes, thank you, Takahashi-san. And I’m really sorry.”

“We will figure this out.”

—

Ohno didn’t know how long he stared at the basket with the baby boy inside, but he only looked up when the front door opened again. He scrunched up his nose when the boy woke up and whined lowly. 

“Mum!” he cried out when the woman appeared at the doorway. The woman sighed as she rolled her eyes at his begging eyes and helpless look. 

She shook her head as she went over and picked the wailing boy up to rock him in his arms. “Let’s get you fed and changed, ne?” she asked the boy who sniffled as he pressed his arms against her and at the same time his face against her shoulder to get warmth while being uncomfortable because of all the strangers around him. 

Ohno followed his mother to the kitchen, as she gestured to the bag she had brought. “There is a bottle inside and the formula. You should prepare the milk,” she said softly as she sat down with the boy who had calmed down a little. 

Ohno nodded as he read the package carefully and followed the instructions. He still was overwhelmed, but he understood that the well-being of such a little boy was more important than his comfort.

“Do you know what you want to do?” 

Ohno hummed softly as he sighed. “I called the agency. Takahashi will come and help me to deal with this all.”

“He will probably come with the social workers and maybe the police to check how they could track you and what will happen with him.”

Ohno hummed lowly in the back of his throat as he brought the bottle over. 

“Check for the temperature on the inside of your wrist. It should feel comfortable there.”

Ohno nodded as he did and decided it was not too hot. “It should be fine.”

“Good, now hold him,” the woman said as she took the bottle from him and placed the boy comfortable in his arms. It felt still unnatural for him to have the baby in his arms, and he was scared to do something wrong. If possible, he never held his sister’s babies or the Nino’s nephew. 

He pushed the bottle softly against the lips of the baby until he latched on and drank hungrily from the bottle. Ohno giggled softly as the small fingers grabbed the bottle tightly, and a concentrated look was on his face. 

“You look like Nino when he tries out new food,” he mumbled. Nino looked similar cautious and critical if he didn’t know it yet. 

“Satoshi, I know I was very strict when I left, but you got me in a tight spot,” the woman said as she started to clean out the bag with the few baby supplies she bought earlier. 

Ohno stared at the little face as she shrugged. “I can understand. I wasn’t any different when it happened. At least you didn’t throw me out.”

“I can understand Nino, though,” she hummed.

Ohno nodded as he grimaced. He could too, somehow. But it still hurt how easily Nino had seemed to be able to demand him to vanish from his life right away. 

“Satoshi, did you think about what you want to do?”

Ohno shook his head as he stared at the boy in his arms. “I’m sure the agency has some ideas. I can’t bring Arashi into danger.”

The woman sighed deeply as she sat down across from him. “I’m sure you have the right to take part in any decision.”

“He might not be mine,” he mumbled. 

“What if he is?”

“I want to do a test, if possible. And if he is… You are right, you know? He is not at fault. He is the victim here who hasn’t been asked for this mess,” he said slowly, thinking carefully at each word he muttered. His mother observed him as he moved the bottle back and put the boy against his shoulder to rub his back. Just as he had seen Nino do the very few times he had been with his nephew. 

He winced when there was something wet against his neck, making his mother giggle. “You should make sure to have a cloth over your shoulder if you do that,” she explained as she got up again, a cloth in her hands that she moved over his neck and the chin of the baby boy. 

“I will remember that,” he groaned. “He smells,” he said with a scrunched up nose. His mother laughed as she put a mat on the table and then picked up the boy to change his diapers while explaining to Ohno what to do for the next time. 

“I think… If possible, if the agency is okay with it and he is really really mine, that I would like to try to raise him,” he breathed in the end. “To be a good father to him.”

“I’m sure you would be if you try and can love him,” she whispered as she kissed the top of his head. Ohno smiled shyly as he picked the boy up and bounced him on his lap as he babbled softly under his breath. 

“He is cute right?”

“He sure is, if he is not crying,” she teased, keeping back at how much she thought he looked like her son as a baby. “Does he has a name?”

Ohno shook his head before he shrugged carefully as he stared at the boy in wonder. “There wasn’t anything written in the letter or anywhere else,” he mumbled. “There were no official documents either, about where he was born, how his health status is,” he murmured. 

“Tell the people who will come. And also tell them that you want to keep him, okay? Just be honest.”

“Won’t you stay?” 

“If they allow me, Satoshi. But it might be better if I’m not in the same room with you then, same for the boy.”

Ohno nodded as he bit his lower lip. At least if the discussion got heated, it wouldn’t be suitable for a baby to be in the same room, probably. At least he thought so. He already hated discussion and bad mood, he didn’t believe that a small baby would feel any better. 

“Aka-chan,” Ohno said as he tickled the boy’s stomach, grinning when a shrieking laugh erupted from him. He just hoped that his decision wouldn’t mean that his relationship with Nino was impossible. But Nino was a good man, better than anybody else Ohno knew (maybe second to his mother only).

—

“Takahashi-san, nice to see you,” Ohno’s mother said as she opened the door to the man, who smiled softly as he bowed low and took off his shoes and slipping into the slippers the woman had prepared for the unexpected guests. 

“I would’ve preferred if it wasn’t under these circumstances.”

“I’m sure we all feel similar. But it has happened, and we deal with it now.”

“Indeed, Ohno-san,” he said with a small grin. “Not the first or worst thing that had happened to any of our idols,” he said as he stepped into the room. 

She nodded as she offered a smile. “Do you prefer coffee or tea?”

“Coffee would be good,” he said with a tired smile as she led him to the living room. “Satoshi-kun,” he said with a smile as he saw the man. Ohno had the same stubborn look on his face that he had when he was young and had his heart set to something he thought they wouldn’t agree with. He looked much like the young boy that had told them what he wanted and then shut off his phone for a few weeks until he was sure they accepted it.

“Thanks for coming, Takahashi-san,” he whispered. There was insecureness in his eyes even if he at the same time was sure what he wanted to achieve. 

“Of course. Let’s sit down and talk first. I made sure to have some time just the two of us before social workers come in and help us deal with it. Explain again what happened.”

Ohno nodded as he closed his eyes and told him about the morning at Nino’s place where he had stayed at ever since Nino, and he got together. The other man was silent as he listened to his tale, thanking Ohno’s mother for the coffee in between and then even checking up on the baby boy in his cot. It was hard to believe, but with all facts, there was no denying it anymore. 

“The higher-ups are not happy, to say the least. But we can’t afford to lose you right now. You are slowly climbing up to the top with the stadium concert lined up and your tenth anniversary that’s already planned. So they will take your decision into consideration. I hope you’ve thought about what you want?”

“It would be easiest if I gave him up, right?” Ohno asked with a small cough, his throat feeling parched suddenly as he was reminded about all the work liked up right now. 

“Not necessarily. In a way, yes if we can put a cover on everything. But we don’t know if you are watched by the woman and if she wouldn’t go to press if you decide to give the boy up to adoption.”

Ohno nodded in understanding as he sighed. “I want to do a test.”

“Of course, I actually got the kit already, and we can take your samples right away. I will bring it to the lab myself and then it will take up to three days until we have the results. It will cost you money to make it as fast as possible, though.”

“Money is not the issue right now. I would feel more at peace if I know as soon as possible if he is mine or not.”

“And then what?”

“If he is mine, I want to take care of him.” Ohno’s voice wavered just slightly because of his nervousness, but his eyes were serious and showed how much he would fight for it. 

“I see. You will have to keep silent about this, though. At least until he is old enough for daycare or even school, you would need to hide, having a child. The agency wouldn’t allow you a scandal right now.”

Ohno gulped slightly at those words, but then he nodded. That was fine with him. He honestly preferred it this way ever since he was a very private person and he wanted to protect his family. His parents just as much as this little baby.

“Okay,” the man clapped his hands as he stood and brought out the kit. Ohno took one of the swipes to wipe at his cheek and then teased the little boy about doing the same with him. He grinned as the boy grumbled when he realised it was no food that was in his mouth right now. 

“Aka-chan, hungry again?” he cooed as he picked him up to sway him in his arms and start to prepare another bottle to feed him. He was still scared to let him fall, but it was a little bit easier now. 

The talk with the social workers was awkward, but in the end, they agreed to let the small boy stay with him until the results were out, saying that it would be better than having him change parental figures so often in a handful of days if he was his own blood. 

Ohno thanked his manager again as the man finally left his family home to go to the lab even if it was already late. 

His mother smiled at him when he shuffled inside the living room again to check on the boy he had decided to call Aka-chan for now because the boy or baby seemed strange. “I cleaned your room for you to stay in. You should make space for him.”

“Aka-chan and I will room together, right?” he asked the boy as he nodded thankfully. “What about dad?”

“I’ll handle your father. But he will be fine with it. You should try to rest a bit. The day was stressful.”

Ohno nodded as he picked up the basket to carry him over to his own room to make space for him and lie down at his bed. He took out his phone, staring at the dark screen. He wished it would lighten up with a call from Nino, but even as he turned on his phone, there were no missed calls or messages waiting for him. He stared at the screen saver that was a picture of an asleep Nino. He sighed as he rolled onto his side, looking at the sleeping Aka-chan, as his tears ran over his cheeks. “I won’t give him up, Aka-chan. Not even for you, sorry,” he whispered into the silence as he closed his eyes exhausted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anybody care for more frequent updates at the moment? I'm not going out as often as possible because of well... You know. So I thought I might make you happy with it, but I don't know if you care for it?

“Yes, I understand. Thank you. Thank you for calling me and hurrying with the test result,” Ohno said as he stared blankly in front of him. He bowed slightly even if he knew that it was silly since the man on the other end of the phone would not be able to see it, but his body automatically moved. 

He put the phone down long after the dialling tone was in his ear, and he let out a deep sigh as he turned around to see his mother and father staring anxiously at him. A small smile crept on his lips as he saw his father bouncing the baby boy on his lips. His father had been confused at first, then he had been angry at him for being so stupid and careless, but soon he had fallen in love with the little boy and was playing with him each time he was home - which was often now that he started to come back on time to see the boy before he went to bed. 

Ohno took the boy when the little human held out his arms, babbling something he couldn’t decipher. “Ne Aka-chan, you are a real troublemaker, right?” he asked the baby who giggled since Ohno was tickling his side. 

“Satoshi, stop this suspense. What did they tell?”

“May I present you with your grandson? The test was above the 90 per cent rate, which is pretty clear the doctor said,” he said with a frown when the boy hit his lips. 

He stared at the small wonder in his arms, not believing that he was really a father. It had been three turbulent days with Takahashi clearing most of his schedule on short notice and him spending a lot of time caring for him with the help of his parents. He had gotten to know small quirks about the boy that he hadn’t thought possible in such a short span of time. 

Then again, people usually mentioned that he was observant when he wanted to be, and he wanted to be with the boy in his arms. He was helpless without his parents, he didn’t know how to secure a diaper well, how to prepare the formula on the first try without clumps in the liquid and how to install baby safety on the power outlets without his father patiently explaining it to him too often to count accurately. But he wanted to be sure he knew when the boy felt well or unwell. If he was grumbling because he was bored or just being fussy or if he really needed him, he was hungry or was hurt.

He felt as if he needed to make up for so much already and that this was the least he could at least try to attempt. 

His parents didn’t really feel surprised, and in a way, he wasn’t either. Ohno wasn’t blind. He knew his pictures as a baby now better than ever since he was looking through his photos for their anniversary concert. The boy looked a lot like him at that age. 

Ohno stared in the face of the boy who put his hand in his mouth and pouted. That brought him out of his reverie. “Hungry, Aka-chan?” he asked as he carried him to the kitchen. He was careful as he prepared the bottle and checked the temperature before again moving the boy in his arms and presenting him with the bottle. A small soft smile on his face as grabby hands caught the bottle in between them as he started to drink. 

“What will you do now?” his mother asked, and he looked up from the boy in his arm. 

“I will call Takahashi-san and tell him the results. They will send a courier, so the papers should be here this hour, and then I’ll see what Takahashi-san will tell me I should do.”

“I see, and about Ninomiya-kun?”

“I will call Nino tonight. He should be at work right now, and I don’t want to put stress on him. I will tell him today, though, because I don’t want him to get to know about it from somebody else,” he said with a small grimace. “And I’ll tell him that I will raise Aka-chan,” he said, looking back down at the boy to make sure that he was still drinking and that there was even milk left in the bottle. 

His mother hummed in understanding as she came closer and hugged him around the shoulders once before kissing his cheek, and Ohno knew that was to show him how proud she was of him, which made his heart lighter. He knew this was the correct decision, even if it was a hard one. 

—

Ohno looked a bit uncomfortably and wary at the basket on his hands. Takahashi had fetched him two hours earlier to bring him and Aka-chan to the agency where he had a very long talk with the big bosses. He felt tired and exhausted, but at least it was over now. 

He rubbed his eyes with his thumb at the thought of what was ahead of him, more work, less pay sounded better than more work, no pay or no work, and being thrown out. Still, with him trying to adjust his life with a small toddler, it was one of the worst things that could happen right now. 

“Troublemaker,” he whispered to the boy who snored slightly. A grin appeared on his face. Aka-chan had fallen asleep halfway through the scolding he had gotten, and even before he had been quiet in the little basket. He was happy that nobody also tried to make him show the boy around publicly. Because Ohno had already decided to keep him a secret to the outside world for as long as possible. 

Of course, the rest of the band would know, and probably others in the agency as well, even if his parents were capable and delighted babysitters for the time being. There would be times when he had to make sure the boy was alright or leave early or just be at home, and people could be as mad as they wanted at him for it, he would resign if he saw it necessary. 

He still stared at the closed door, feeling unwell in the pit of his stomach. He knew the others were there. Takahashi had mentioned that they were all planning stuff for the concerts, and Ohno had decided to bite the bullet and tell them, but now he didn’t know if this was the right choice to do. His fingers twitched around the handle, ready to run when he realized that running away now would only make it harder later. And who knows if there wasn’t any manager on their way down now to tell them? No, he needed to do it himself. 

He took a steadying breath as he gripped the basket tighter, afraid that his grip might loosen otherwise and knocked shortly at the door before entering without waiting to be asked to do so. 

Their managers and other staffs would wait for them to call them in, but they would mostly knock to alert the rest and then enter.

“Leader!” Aiba shouted in surprise, getting the attention of the other two. Ohno winced at the loud volume moving the basket where a low whine was coming from. 

“Not so loud,” he mumbled as he put the basket down and picked Aka-chan up. He should’ve thought about him probably getting hungry again around this time, he thought with a grimace, feeling defeat creeping in again. He wasn’t made for this, he thought as he looked helplessly into the bag his mother had given him, almost crying when he saw a bottle in a warming flask. 

“Why do you have a baby with you?” Sho asked, worry evident in his tone. “Are you on babysitting duty for your sister? But then you shouldn’t come here,” he scolded slightly. 

Ohno shook his head as he hummed and rocked the boy as he tried to open the flask with difficulty. He swore silently when the bag fell, and the cries of Aka-chan got louder. Especially since he was staring fearfully at the three men who were around them. 

“Wait!” Aiba said as he quickly found the flask that Ohno had tried to pull out. He opened it to offer it to Ohno, who carefully checked the temperature before feeding it to the boy, glad and surprised that he didn’t let the boy fall.

He sighed tiredly as he sat on the chair and stared down for a moment, remembering why he was doing this all. He took in a deep breathe.

“I have a baby with me because it’s mine and I had to talk to Johnny about how to handle all that,” he said in a low voice hoping somehow that the others wouldn’t yell. 

He was met with stunned silence for just a moment before three shocked shouts could be heard. “What? Why? How? When?”

Ohno blinked as he rocked the boy who was whining again, but the bottle, in the end, seemed to persuade him to keep drinking. He looked up and glared at the others. 

“Keep your voices down. I had sex, he is the result. Almost two years ago, why has nothing to do with you,” he answered the questions slowly. Then why had to do with him and maybe with Nino but nobody else was entitled to a reason. 

“What will you do? Give him up for adoption?”

“No, I will raise him as his father. He got already abandoned by his mother. I won’t be like her,” he whispered, still feeling thankful that why ever the woman had taken good enough care of this little boy that he was a healthy lad. He was maybe a little bit late with first words and his first steps, but his mother had told him that he had been similar and even if he didn’t talk much even now he did it just well enough and moves… Well, he was the best dancer in their group even if he usually didn’t say so himself he knew it was true and not just showing-off. 

“Oh, that’s exciting. He is cute. What’s his name?” Aiba said as he came over to peer over his shoulder and into the small upturned face. 

“He doesn’t have one. Or none I know of. I call him Aka-chan,” he whispered, looking up thankfully at Aiba for his understanding. He knew that all of them were not happy with this, but there was nothing he could do to change that now. He felt tears rising up in his eyes. He still sometimes hoped this was just a bad dream. 

“What did Johnny say?”

“He’s not happy.”

“No surprise,” Jun sneered, but a look from Sho shut him up thankfully. Ohno knew that there would be an argument when he left. Jun looked the most unhappy about this all, and Ohno had an inkling as of why. 

“I will get less money for a few months, more work and he doesn’t care for anything, if people get to know about him, I’m out,” Ohno said with a frown. “Not that I have any intention of announcing his existence.”

“I see,” Sho said in understanding. “And you are sure about this?” He made a helpless gesture that seemed to point on everything and nothing at the same time. 

Ohno shook his head as he stared down at the cherub face of his son. “No, of course not. It’s sudden, he came to my life three days ago. But… I can’t leave him. I just can’t,” he mumbled. “But I fear I’m going to be a bad father.”

“You can’t!” Aiba said with emphasis. 

Sho nodded in agreement. “Not if you go through all this trouble just to be there for him and step up.”

Ohno bit his lips feeling the tears slip out as he remembered that the foremost reason he decided to take responsibility for his mistake was Nino and the hope that he would accept him and his decision to try to be a good dad. Just because he knew that Nino had no love for any bad fathers. And didn’t that already make him a terrible one?

“What about Nino? What does he think about this all?” Jun’s voice was not more than a whisper, and still, it cut deeply into his heart as he fought the sob trying to escape. He carefully angled Aka-chan on his shoulder as he rubbed his back to let the air escape. 

“He hasn’t talked to me since he appeared,” he said finally as he put Aka-chan back to the basket. The toddler was grumbling slightly because he thought that he had been long enough inside and Ohno reached for his favourite rattle and handed it to the boy who waved it around, smiling at the sound. 

“I’m sorry I should go home. I just wanted to let you know,” he said before anybody could say anything. He smiled thankfully at Aiba, who handed him the bag again after he picked up the carrier and left as fast as he could. The door hadn’t even closed fully before he could hear the men arguing over what had happened and what to do now.


	6. Chapter 6

Nino stared at the phone for a long time, letting the ringing fill the silence of his apartment. He hadn’t answered any calls so far if he could help it. Still, he made sure that the phone was fully charged just in case. 

For what case Nino was not so sure. He had answered the call of his manager, the woman telling him when he would be expected to come back to work. Ohno hadn’t called just as he had promised him and slowly his heart had calmed down. Still, it hurt a lot to suddenly see his name flash on the phone. The love song Ohno had recorded together with him in his home studio. He really should’ve changed that.

He sighed as he tightened his grip around the phone before bringing it to his ear and answering the call. “Hello,” he said in a soft voice, trying very hard to hide the shaking in his voice. 

“Oh, Nino! Thank you for answering the call,” Ohno said surprise clearly colouring his voice, and Nino’s lips twitched slightly. Ohno was unbelievably happy to hear his voice, and that meant that Ohno still missed him a lot. At least, Nino thought, Ohno didn’t hate him yet. 

“I promised you, right?” he said still in that calm tone as he pulled his legs closer to his body. 

“Yes, sorry, of course, you would. I got the results for the test back today,” he explained hesitantly. For the first time, Ohno thought if it would’ve been better if he had called Nino the first thing in the morning. But the agency had been necessary, and it seemed like the logical thing to go to the rest right after. 

Also, Nino had been working this morning. At least he had been supposed to be at work. 

“Oh, good, what did it say?” Nino asked. 

“He is my son. It’s clear. I’m sorry, Nino,” he whispered. 

Nino bit his lip hard enough to draw blood at the words. He had thought that maybe if the boy was not Ohno’s son, it would change anything, that it was just a bad dream and Ohno had not slept with anybody else even if Ohno had already said so much the morning it all happened. 

“I see,” he choked out. “Congratulations, sorry, but I have to go,” he said hastily as he ended the call. He threw the phone across the room. He pressed his face into his legs, letting the tears fall freely. 

Ohno closed his eyes and pressed his lips together tightly when he listened to the tone after Nino had ended the call. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he got up to pick up Aka-chan from his crib where he had looked at him with wide eyes, tearing up as he saw that his father was crying. 

Ohno rocked him in his arms, his lips against his hair as he sighed. “Close your eyes and fall asleep. There's no need to cry.You know I'll be always there for you…” he sang softly, smiling when the boy calmed down and he could put him to bed.

—

Nino made himself smaller when the doorbell rang for the third time in the next morning. He hadn’t moved from his spot, and he knew that it wasn’t his manager. He still had nothing to do yet.

“Nino open that damn door, I know you are home!” Nino groaned when he could hear Jun’s voice through the door. 

The rest shouldn’t know he was home. Everybody should think he was at work. Unless… He couldn’t finish the thought as the door opened. 

“I called Kondo-san. She told me you were recovering from an illness. Since Ohno told us yesterday about his baby, I can imagine what your illness is.”

“Go away,” Nino said as he rolled around to look at the backrest of his couch. He didn’t want to see Jun’s deprecating look. 

Jun clicked his tongue as he saw the ball of misery on the sofa. “You like it dark when you try not to cry,” Jun hummed as he walked through his living room. 

Nino groaned and hissed as buried his face against the cushions when with a loud bang Jun opened his blinds and with a second bang the windows to let in the fresh air. 

“Leave! Leave me alone!” he cried out when he could hear the other throw some things at his head. He glared at him with red-rimmed eyes, and for a second there was something like sympathy in Jun’s eyes before he returned his glare with cold eyes.

“I’m not scared of you. You will pull out your head of your arse right now and stop moping around.”

“I’m not moping,” Nino said in a small voice as he sat up under the glare of Jun who had crossed his arms in front of his chest and his foot was tapping on the floor. Nino was scared for a moment that Jun would pack him by his neck and pick him up if he stayed down. 

Jun snorted, still looking unimpressed as his eyes wandered through his room, which was - to be honest in a pitiful condition. Beer cans were lying around that Nino didn’t remember he drank and take out boxes or snack bags from the first fits of depression he had been here alone. “When was the last time you took a bath or showered?”

Nino grimaced as he shrugged. He honestly couldn’t remember. “Which day is it?” he tried to answer back a bit snarkily, but Jun shook his head as he pushed him up by his shoulders.

“I would disinfect this room before, but I suppose it will do,” Jun grumbled as he pushed him to the bathroom and threw the door close. “Shower!”

Nino pouted and thought about how much he enjoyed life and if it was worth it to fight back right now. Then his eyes fell on his reflection on the mirror, and he grimaced. He looked filthy, and he probably smelled as well. 

There was a knock on the door, and he frowned. “I don’t hear the water running. Should I come in and wash you myself?” Jun threatened. 

“God, no!” he cried out since he could just imagine that Jun would not be gentle about it. If it was Aiba he probably would hug him and take a bath with him and Sho he could possibly have thrown out again already, but Jun was a no-nonsense person. Especially if his friends were threatened or suffering. 

Nino pulled off his clothes which were still the same jogging bottoms and shirt he had put on after his bath all these days ago. Had it really been only three or four days? He couldn’t believe that. He stepped under his shower, swearing softly when the cold stream hit him first. He had forgotten that the water needed a few minutes until it was warm. He leant against the wall as the water had warmed up and closed his eyes to enjoy the warmth creeping into his body, waking him up fully now. He started to wash his hair and body with the first shower soap his hands met. 

He put a towel around himself since he hadn’t brought in new clothes and stepped out of the bathroom again. 

“Get some fresh clothes. I will burn the ones you had when I came in.”

“Don’t you dare. They cost money and will be fine after a wash…”

“…or ten and I’m sure you didn’t pay for them,” Jun disagreed as he came from wherever he had been before. He gestured for Nino to go to his room, which he did with a small huff as Jun entered the bathroom. 

“Your home is a mess. What the hell did you do?”

“Nothing,” Nino yelled back as he changed into another pair of jogging bottoms and a clean long-sleeved sweatshirt since he didn’t want to lose the warmth from his earlier shower. 

“That’s probably the problem,” Jun sighed as he looked up from where he threw some of his clothes into his washing machine. 

Nino sighed as he dried his hair with the towel and threw it into the basket when he was done. Jun sighed as he started the washing program and pushed Nino out. 

“Are you going to push me around all day?” Nino asked, and Jun grinned down at him. 

“Probably. What are you going to do against it, midget? Kitchen now.”

Nino had a snarky remark on his tongue, he was sure when he stared at the clean counter and blinked. How long had he been in the bathroom of how fast was Jun with cleaning it?

Jun pushed a cup of tea in front of Nino and pushed him down on one chair. Nino sighed as he took the cup in between his fingers, drinking a small sip of it. 

“Did you have breakfast?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you are stupid,” Jun sighed as he sat down across from him as he took the bottle of water he had brought with him. Nino smiled a bit as he saw that since it was so like Jun to bring his own water to another house. 

“Am I?” Nino mused as he stared down at the green tea that soothed his mind softly. Jun knew how to brew it perfectly each time. 

“Yes, but you are not ready to talk about that, yet,” Jun agreed with a small sigh. “But you will be.”

Nino looked at him a bit warily since he was not so sure about that, but didn’t know how to voice his thoughts just yet. 

“I brought all the ingredients to make hamburgers later. So if you are a good boy I might be persuaded to make them for you.”

Nino perked up at those words. “I’m no dog,” he said, though.

“Sure, you are. You like cuddles,” Jun said. Then he looked at him sternly. “But first we need to do something against the filthy state of this flat,” he said as he looked around with evident distaste in his eyes. 

Nino sighed but nodded then. He knew that he needed to clean, and he was thankful for the help. Now that he had a shower and cleared his mind a bit at least he could see how awful it all looked. He felt sadness overwhelm him almost again when Jun flipped his forehead. “Eat bread. I brought melon pan. Then you can decide which room you want to clean first.”

Nino nodded as he nibbled on the bread. He didn’t manage all of it before he felt full and finished the tea before he got up. Without a word, he went to the bathroom since he knew that Jun would clean it, but that was too private for him. 

He could hear Jun rummaging through the rooms as he picked up the litter and sorted all of them out in different trash bags so that Nino could put them out when it was time. Then he went to clean and sort out the bedroom since he had seen the shifty looks on Nino’s face whenever he was face to face with his bedroom.

He supposed that a changing of sheets and a good airing would help the other a lot to not see it as space he shared with Ohno but hopefully as a space to sleep. 

Nino wiped off his sweat when he stepped out of his bathroom. The floors and the tub were sparkling and smelled of disinfectant and cleaning products. The first load of washing had been finished by the time Nino had finished cleaning up, and he put them in the drier before preparing the second load of clothes.

He was tired as he stumbled to from the bathroom, just to be greeted by another cup of coffee and Jun in the kitchen. “Drink that and then the living room. I just picked up the trash, but didn’t touch anything else.”

Nino nodded mutely as he finished his tea and shuffled out into the living room again. Jun was cleaning the kitchen, he could hear him humming as he wiped down the counters and washed the dishes. Nino was silently vacuuming the floor and sofa before sitting down in front of his gaming consoles and untangling the chords to put them away carefully before carefully picking up his phone. He groaned when he saw that the screen was broken. He stood with shaky legs as he went to plug it in and then sat down on the sofa.

Jun came out just as Nino moaned and he fell to his back. He observed him and offered him another cup of tea. 

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Nino mumbled. Jun smiled as he pushed him up a bit and sat down beside him, a cup of tea in his hand while his other arm wandered over his shoulder and drew him in. 

“Don’t,” Nino said as he felt his body breaking out in shivers and Jun hugged him even closer into his body. 

Nino felt the cup slipping out of his fingers, as Jun caught it fast, and he pressed his face into his shoulder as he felt tears springing to his eyes. Jun put the cups back as he burrowed his finger into his hair and massaged his scalp with his fingertips as his nails raked through his thick locks. 

Tears slipped down his cheeks as he cried, pressing against the other, who held him with a soft hum in the back of his throat. 

“It’s just so unfair,” Nino cried. 

“It is,” Jun agreed. “But there is nothing you can do to change what happened.”

“I know,” Nino whispered slowly relaxing in the warm hug of the other. It was nice to be hugged while crying and being sad right now. 

Jun rocked him in his arms a bit and then pulled back to clean his face with his thumbs. “You are allowed to feel sorry for yourself, okay? But you need to start thinking about what you want and not let it overwhelm you.”

“I’m not…”

“You do,” Jun disagreed. “And I understand. We all do, and we are there for you. But we are there for Ohno as well. He needs us as well.”

“I know,” Nino said his heart breaking at the thought of Ohno. “I’m tired.”

Jun grinned and bopped his nose. “Then take a nap, I will cook. You were very good today, after all.”

Nino smirked slightly at the words as Jun stood up and pushed him down again. He pulled a blanket over him and made sure he was comfortable. “Sleep now.”

“Thank you,” Nino whispered as he closed his eyes and rolled to his side as he fell to sleep, feeling utterly exhausted right now. 

A/N: The song is a German lullaby that I love… The translation isn’t the best probably but it fits the song


	7. Chapter 7

Nino woke to the smell of food and Jun’s shaking hand on his shoulder. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes and carefully sat up. Jun had put the plate on the low table in front of his sofa with a sigh. 

“Eat, I have to leave for work in a bit, and I want to make sure that you eat at least half of this,” Jun declared as he sat down across from him, pulling out a notebook to look over some notes he had made. 

“How did Ohno look?” Nino asked carefully as he took the plate in his hands to eat the offered hamburger steak. It was as good as he had hoped and he sighed at the taste. He couldn’t remember when the last time had been that he had homemade dinner. It was too long. Living with Ohno he had been tidier than the last of the week, but Ohno didn’t cook much and so he often just ordered delivery when they were home, and Nino was tired from work. 

Jun watched him with a lifted eyebrow as he hummed and put the pen against his lips for a moment as he studied him. Nino didn’t know what Jun looked for and if he would satisfy him at least a bit, but in the end, Jun smiled. 

“Tired,” he offered in the end. 

Nino bit his lips at those words. Ohno always looked sleepy at least they teased him about it, but Jun choosing that word to describe Ohno meant that the older had not slept much these last few days, probably as many hours as himself. Maybe even less with the baby. “And the baby?” he asked then, fearing the answer. 

Jun tapped the pen against his lips before he shook his head. “I will only answer your questions today because I can already see that you are raw inside. But you need to talk with him. You know that, right?”

“Yes. I will try, I promise. But just today?”

Jun looked at him and pointed at the plate for him to continue eating. 

“Ohno looked tired but okay, a bit thin, though. He ran away when I asked him about you, so I think that he is hurt and feels bad for what he put you through. The baby… I didn’t see much. He cried when they were inside, and Ohno took him out to feed him. He seemed to be used to that now, and the baby feels comfortable around him. The agency is very unhappy about what happened, though.”

“I can believe that,” Nino said with a frown. He played with the chopsticks for a bit, before putting another bite into his mouth when Jun glared at him. “They are not easily dealt with when they are unhappy.”

“I think Ohno has it under control. They are too scared that he would turn off his phone and vanish to thin air,” Jun joked.

Nino grinned weakly at his words at those words before he nodded as he sighed and ate more under Jun’s eyes before he got up and packed his things. 

“I have to leave now. If you want to talk or something, call. Otherwise, we’ll see each other on the recordings at the weekend. Call your mom.”

Nino rolled his eyes at those words but then giggled when Jun ruffled his hair with a soft sigh. “I will. Thanks for setting me straight.”

“Of course. The rest will probably call tonight. So that you are warned.”

Nino grinned at those words. He had the best group ever. He waved at Jun who told him not to move as he wanted to bring him to the door but finished his food instead. 

He then got up to wash the dishes he had to be careful to let his flat not become a dump again and then maybe call Kondo to make sure he didn’t miss any work scheduled for the next few days.

—

“Mom I have to tell you something,” Nino said an hour later as he sat on his gaming chair the legs bent and his chin on top of his knees. 

“What’s up?”

Nino sighed as he hugged his legs with one arm to get a bit more comfortable. 

“I have broken up with Ohno,” he said in a rush closing his eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply to calm down his heart. It still hurt to say that and it didn’t seem real or right to say it either. 

“Or are on a break. I can’t tell honestly. At least I told him to leave,” he explained when there was only silence from the other side. “He has a son…”

“What?!” Nino winced at the loud voice. He probably should have worded it more carefully. He rubbed his face and groaned. 

“He has a son. A little baby son, he appeared the other day, and he made a test to make sure. He got the results today. I wanted to tell you.”

The woman sighed tiredly, and Nino smiled softly as he could just see her rubbing her eyes at the other end as she thought of what to say. His mother had known even before him that he was gay and in love with his bandmate and had talked him into confessing. 

“Did this happen before or after you were together?”

“Before,” Nino said as he nibbled on his lips. “When I left for America.”

“Okay…”

“Do you think that matters?” Nino asked almost in a whisper. 

“Yes, I do. And I think it matters as to what you want. Do you hate Satoshi-san?”

Nino hummed as he thought this question over. “No.”

“Do you hate that he has a child?”

“I’m not happy with it!” Nino said with a frown. Of course, he wasn’t happy with that. That meant he had slept with someone else. “Maybe he will think a woman is better for the child. It’s easier than two men, right?”

“It’s more conservative, yes. I don’t think it’s easier. It doesn’t really matter who is by your side to raise a child, Kazunari. In the end, it’s always a whole town. You are never doing it alone.”

Nino hummed in understanding as he sighed a little. 

“Do you hate the child?”

“No, I would never,” Nino said honestly. Regardless of how unhappy he had been with Ohno at how hurtful it was thinking about him or what he might’ve done with a woman when he had been away.

“Then it’s all good. You need to decide if you want to never be with him again, Kazu, nobody can take that decision from you. And you need to know that if you want to have him by your side again, there will be a child. If you can’t deal with that, don’t give him any hope.”

“I won’t. Thank you, mom,” he whispered, then after a beat or two of silence. “Do you think I would be a good father?”

“Of course, my dear.” Nino smiled as he ended the call and started his computer. A round of online gaming or two would hopefully help to clear his mind even more. 

—

Nino blinked as he was face to face with a blinking envelope as soon as he had typed in his password for the computer. He got all mails usually to his phone, but there was one mail provider he used just for his laptop. He often only got notifications for updates on that but when he clicked on it it was Ohno’s name that appeared. He steeled his nerves as he remembered his promises to try at least and he really couldn’t think of anything that would make Ohno decide to write to this address that he used so seldom. 

He clicked on his name, biting his lips as he saw that there were two mails filed away. The older message had a ‘read first’ at the headline box, so with shaking fingers, he clicked on them. Before it could even open, he was out of his chair though and ran to the kitchen to prepare himself a tea to stop the fast beating of his heart and calm down. God, it was just a silly message. No reason for him to be so jumpy, he thought with a grimace. But he couldn’t help it! With the cup of warm tea in his hands, he went back and got comfortable again to finally read the first message. 

_~Dear Kazunari,  
I have thought about how to talk to you and keep you up to date with our life. I have told you that the little guy is my son and I will raise him. Or at least try my best. I would be very happy if you could consider being with us again.  
I’m very sorry to make you cry, Kazu. I never wanted to do that. I’m sorry if I’m making you cry right now as well. Especially since I had promised to you always to make you smile. I failed, and I’m sorry about that.  
I never meant for this to happen, but I can’t unmake it. The boy will be there always to remind us about what happened, and he won’t vanish into thin air. I have a very important question, and please consider the answer carefully before you open the second mail. It will contain updates from me and the boy, I don’t want to hurt you, but I want you to be able to be a part of my life, our life after all.  
Do you think you can ever love **us** again?  
Yours forever,  
Ohno Satoshi~_

Nino stared at the computer for a very long time. He wouldn’t be able to read the other message today. He was curious, honestly. But he was already crying after this message, and he didn't want to be too down when Sho or/and Aiba called.

His eyes wandered around aimlessly until they fell on a picture frame on top of his workspace. It held a picture of him and Ohno. Ohno hugging him tightly from behind, their heady side by side and they stared grinning brightly directly into the camera. 

Or they were supposed to. It was actually the second shot where they were both glancing at each other and Nino always felt warm and overwhelmed when he saw the love in Ohno’s eyes. His eyes always were on the older one, honestly. But tonight his eyes wandered to the man beside Ohno on the picture. 

Nino almost didn’t recognise himself, but his eyes told the world clearly how much he loved this silly guy with the reactions that sometimes came just a tiny bit too late, the amazement he felt whenever Ohno danced on stage and the warm feeling inside of him when Ohno failed spectacularly at the easiest things when it was just the two of them. 

He felt his heart yearn to be close to the other again, and he knew there was only one possible answer for Ohno’s question.

_~It will take time, still. I’m hurt, I can’t be with you just like that. Not yet. I don’t know when again. But know that the time will come where the answer would be: Yes, a million times **yes**! Please don’t give up on me just yet.  
Nino~_


	8. Chapter 8

Ohno stared at his phone for a very long time. He knew there was a blinking envelope with Nino’s name on it and he was so very nervous about opening it. What should he do, if Nino said that he shouldn’t bother him anymore? He breathed in deeply, looking over to his little baby boy who was sleeping in his cot. 

He closed his eyes as he tried to draw strength. It was better to know what to expect than to hope for nothing, he thought. That way, he could start to look forward again and mend his broken heart if nothing else. 

He finally clicked on the mail and read it slowly, before reading it a second time even more slowly and then a third time out loud. 

It was hard to believe, and he felt tears in his eyes, running down his cheeks as he hid a sob behind his hand to not wake the other up. 

“Aka-chan,” he whispered as he fell off the bed and knelt in front of the cot. He carefully stroke the soft skin of his cheek with a shaky smile on his face. 

“We will continue to fight, right?” he whispered into his ear. He kissed his cheek, with a smile as he caressed his hair. “And we will win him back, ne?” He smiled when the boy made a small noise that he translated as agreement.

“Right, because Kazu is worth the fight. I promise you. You will fall in love with him, just as I did. He is very easy to fall in love with even if he doesn’t think so,” he mumbled, trying hard not to feel too strange that he was talking to a baby and a sleeping baby, to begin with. 

“He doesn’t trust himself or that he is worth to be loved that much. He gets easily depressed but he is very good at hiding that. So you need to be very careful ne? But he will see at one glance how you feel regardless of how much you try to hide it—also, Aka-chan, just a little tip. Don’t even try to lie to him. He will look through all lies, and he will make your life hell until you confess.” 

Ohno put his head against the cot and looked at the ceiling, deep in thought. “Aka-chan, he will be scared to be a father-figure. We need to tell him that he is doing great when it comes to that, ne? He will be scared to make all the wrong choices. I need to remember to tell him that it’s all a learning process.” Ohno closed his eyes and sighed deeply. It was still a long way in front of him, he feared. He was scared of being face to face with Nino again when they would meet for work. He didn’t know how Nino would react when he saw him. 

One thing was for sure, though, it would not be easy, or just like it had before. Nino was not ready for that just yet. When Nino met Aka-chan again for real, it would probably be even worse. He was so terrified to be the cause of more pain and tears for Nino, but there was nothing he could do but to move forward.

“I should sleep now, Aka-chan. Try to sleep through the night, okay?” he ordered the baby, giggling when there was a frown on the little boy’s face. 

Ohno chuckled as he changed his clothes, happy that his mother agreed to babysit his son while he was at work whenever possible. There were positive effects when one’s parents were not working anymore; he thought as he climbed into the bed. 

It was only a few hours later that a loud cry woke him and he climbed out of bed with a groan. He rubbed his eyes as he picked the baby up and rocked him from side to side. 

“Don’t pull a face, please don’t cry,” he sang as he wandered to the kitchen to prepare his bottle and feed it to him. He carried him back to his bed and climbed into the covers with the boy in his arms. He yawned softly as he made sure that the other was safely in his arms while he drank the milk. 

—

Nino groaned as he rubbed his face the next morning, staring at his phone. He was glad that Ohno hadn’t answered his mail just yet. His mail… He couldn’t believe that he had written such stuff to the other man. 

He knew that it was mostly because of his talks with Jun and his mother and because his heart was still wide open for the other man. It was painful to think of Ohno and knowing that he couldn’t let it go just yet. 

Nino sighed as he rubbed his chest. His heart wasn’t ready yet to take Ohno back into his life and even less to take the little boy in. But, and that was the most important thing, he needed to evaluate carefully if he was ready for the little boy in Ohno’s life before he would be able to allow Ohno to come back to him. 

He sighed as he forced himself to get out of bed. At least he had been able to sleep through the night. That was already a step in the right direction. He stepped into the living room, with a small frown on his face, for a second fearing the mess he would step into. But then he remembered Jun and his help the day before. 

A small smile was on his face at the memory. Jun was always a good friend as were the other two. They had talked for a little while yesterday night, and Aiba had talked him into coming over today for beers and games. 

Nino was not so sure if he should still drink any more beer for a while, but that didn’t mean that Aiba couldn’t. At least he didn’t need to think about food, he thought. Aiba would bring everything when he came over tonight. Sho had been cautious at talking with him, not mentioning Ohno or the baby even once as not to hurt him. Which would have been funnier if the pain had not been at the forefront then. 

He walked to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker for some coffee and looked into the fridge. A small smile on his face as he saw a melon pan at the side of it. Jun was really the best. After making sure that everything was in order, he went to the bathroom to get ready and change clothes. He needed to get his life back on line just so that he would be able to turn up for work in two days. The fans should never realise that something was wrong in their dynamics, and it was part of his job. 

With his breakfast, he settled in front of his TV to start a video game as he ate the melon pan and drink his coffee slowly as to wake up fully. He led his character over a few obstacles and felt himself relax fully as he played and forgot about the tilt in his world for a moment. When he felt his limbs protest. 

Nino murmured a bit to himself as he got up and stretched his back for a moment. His eyes fell to his phone as he remembered the mail he still had to read, but that was for later tonight when he had managed to shove Aiba out of his flat. 

A small smile appeared on his face as he called his mother if it was okay to come for a visit. He would love to see her somehow and his old dog.

“Mum? May I come over for a short visit or are you working?”

“Of course. You can always come over, as you know very well. Your sister will be coming as well.”

“Oh good,” Nino said with a small grimace. He looked forwards to seeing his sister all the time but right now he wasn’t sure if he would not start to cry if he saw his little nephew. “Is she there yet?”

“No she will come around three, after Satoru’s nap is over.”

“Okay, thank you. I’ll leave now.” Nino ended the call with a click, pressing the phone to his lips for a while before he sighed and called his sister. 

“Oh, little brother, what can I do for you?” his sister answered before the third ring, and he grinned softly. It was not often that they talked over the phone. 

“It’s complicated,” Nino sighed as he massaged his head. “I’m on the way to mom’s place. Could you bring some of the clothes Satoru has outgrown?”

“Huh, did you kidnap a child?” she teased, and he grimaced. 

“In a way. Would you just bring them? I will explain when we meet later, okay?”

“What… Uhm yeah sure,” she said, the surprise and shock in her voice evident and Nino would laugh if the situation wasn’t so serious. “Until later. Bring cake.”

Nino snorted. “And let mom kill me? No way.” He slipped into his jacket and then ran down the stairs to jump into his car for a relaxing afternoon with his family. He hoped that Ohno would accept the clothes and that it was not pretentious or something like that.


	9. Chapter 9

Nino rubbed his eyes as he fell back to the sofa. He groaned slightly as he moved his stiff shoulders. 

“Are you going to stay?” his mother asked, coming over from where she had just said goodbye to his sister and little nephew. 

He had spent most of the afternoon playing with the little boy, running around in the living room or playing with his figures that his sister had brought. 

One thing Nino had realised early on: Satoru couldn’t be much older than the boy that was Ohno’s son. He wasn’t that much bigger, and he was just shy of three years. He still was able to find a few clothes that should fit the boy (at least if he had the size correctly in mind). 

“I need to bring the clothes to Ohno,” he mumbled with a frown as he shook his head. “Or I want to. There is no need, I suppose.”

“How are you feeling?” his mother asked, and he shrugged a little helpless as he pressed himself deeper into the cushions. 

“Tired, exhausted and very confused. But I’m working my way through this mess. You don’t need to worry about me. In the end, I will be fine,” he said with a small smile. 

His mother clicked her tongue as she rubbed his tense neck before digging deeper into the muscles, making him groan. 

“Of course, I worry. You are my son,” she said with a laugh. “And I just want to see you happy. You were so happy this last year.”

“I… Maybe a relationship is not for me, same with you,” he mumbled, flinching when she pinched his skin. 

“Kazunari,” she started, before sighing again, “you are not me. And I know that you long for a partner to share your burden with. I had you and your sister and dad when your father left us. It was okay. I wasn’t as stressed with work as you are.”

“But…”

She shook her head as she kissed his forehead. “Don’t think you need to settle for anything else than complete happiness just because marriage wasn’t for me. I had relationships if you remember. You were just a little brat then and tended to send all men running,” she teased him. She rubbed his cheeks, making him smile. 

“And now?”

“Now? I’m very happy, and you are not here to discuss my relationships with me. Oh and don’t you dare to scrunch your nose, mister, or I’ll smack your bottom.”

He giggled as he hugged her close. “You would never.”

“Right,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Still, you are here to talk about yourself.”

“Not really. I’m here to forget everything for just a bit. It helped a lot,” he mumbled with a frown. 

“And I would stay, but I promised Aiba-shi to meet up for drinks at mine. He probably is already there, and I can’t leave him in my apartment for too long all alone,” he said with a grin. “Or my kitchen will be a disaster.”

“Call him over?”

“Nah, you don’t want to have him here, and I don’t want to share a bed with him,” Nino disagreed with a frown. It would be nice to stay here at his childhood home for a bit, he supposed. But he needed to be an adult, and that meant hiding at his mother’s house was out of the question. 

“Okay. But call me if you want to talk, okay? You never call often enough.”

“It won’t even be enough if I called daily,” he grinned as he kissed her cheek and got up. “Really, mom. Thank you for being as you are always.”

“Silly boy,” she chuckled as she rubbed his shoulders. “It’s only natural.”

“You know it’s not for all, but I’m glad it always has been for you,” he answered as he kissed her cheek again before going to the entryway. It was time to go home. 

He smiled as he got up and picked up the bag which contained the clothes of Satoru and even a few very old toys of his own as well as his favourite yellow blanket as a baby now. He stared down at the soft cloth, caressing it with his fingers. He couldn’t believe his mother had kept it, and he could believe even less that it seemed so right to give this to the little boy in Ohno’s care. 

He felt his heart flutter uncomfortably as a small smile was on his face. 

“Till later, mom.”

“Yup, take care.”

He grinned as he nodded, her face telling him that she trusted him to make the right decisions and he was just happy that she seemed to think that he would also be able to love a child even if it was not his own. It was a wonder in itself because he himself wasn’t sure he would ever be able to do so.

—

Nino felt slightly drunk, but not near as bad as Aiba was who was now dead to the world and sleeping in his bed. Nino had just managed to deposit him in his bedroom (and he honestly didn’t care if Aiba fell off the bed now or not). 

He had thought of putting him onto the sofa to sleep, but then he had remembered the second e-mail from Ohno, and he really wanted to read it now and answer it. He feared that Ohno would maybe think that he hadn’t been honest with his last mail and that was something he needed to stop from happening.

_~Hello Kazu,  
The last few days have been very hectic. It feels as if it had been very long ago that I had been beside you, and Aka-chan wasn’t in my life. _

_As I have already told you, Aka-chan is my baby. The test was clear, and somehow, I already knew. He looks a lot like me in the baby pictures. But seeing it on paper made it more real. It’s hard to explain, but this letter is not meant for that. I want to tell you about my life now._

_Aka-chan is really cute. He laughs a lot, and I’m sure he has already gotten used to me. He likes to snuggle against my chest and have his head close to my heart. Mom said that many babies love the sound of the heartbeat, so it’s normal. Nee-chan brought me a few parenting books she had home, but I haven’t had time yet to really read them. I skipped them over, though, and it seems to be a lot. It’s scary being a father so suddenly, but I want to do my best._

_Aka-chan sleeps a lot. His cot is next to my bed, so I hear him if he wakes up during the night, which he does a lot. I can’t have a full-nights sleep yet, he is always hungry or needs a change of diapers. There is not much else, even though I suppose he is bored sometimes. He has a rattle that he likes to wave around. It has a clown’s face painted on the top, which I think is quite scary, but he laughs a lot when he gets it._

_I feed him each time he wants food, and I sing him songs. He calms down when I sing to him. I usually use our songs, and he likes the ballads more when he is sleepy, but when he is bored, he will move a bit to the other kind of songs. It’s fun. I’m sure he will be a dancer later on!_

_Mom said he is a little bit behind in his development. I don’t know about that. I need to go to the doctors soon with him. Takahashi has made an appointment for us in two days, and I’m a bit scared of what he is going to say. Children’s service said that he looks healthy so far, but they had told me to make sure to see a doctor soon or they’ll take him. It’s scary ne? They say I’m under observance now because he ended up on my doorstep. I haven’t told anybody that it was actually yours._

_With the doctor’s visit, I’ll be able to get papers for him. I still have not found a birth certificate, yet. I don’t want to ask, not really, but has something arrived at yours?_

_Ah, Aka-chan has woken up and wants attention. Please take care of yourself and make sure you are okay._

_Love you,  
Satoshi & Aka-chan~_

Nino smiled a bit at the silly letter that had no real point before clicking on the attached file, grinning slightly as he saw a pouting Ohno with a crying baby in his lap and then the said rattle that really looked scary for a children’s toy. But the colours were bright, and there was a bell on top, he supposed that was why the boy liked it so very much. 

He frowned as he realised that not once Ohno had used a name for the boy and he shook his head as he realised that this probably meant that Ohno had not named him just yet. 

_~You need to give him a name, you know? Think of the best for him. He deserves no less. And thank you for the shocking picture of the clown. I will have nightmares tonight. Maybe you find other toys he will like instead.  
Take care yourself! And make sure that he cries less. _

_Good-night, Oh-chan, Aka-chan.  
Nino.~_

He clicked send before closing the laptop. He stared at the bag that he had brought home - much to Aiba’s delight who had squealed when he had seen it.

Tomorrow, he promised himself, settling down on the sofa. Tomorrow he would bring the bag to Ohno’s family home.


	10. Chapter 10

“Are you okay?” Aiba asked Nino as Nino climbed into the car again. Nino frowned at the question as he laid his head to one side. 

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s early, you dragged me out of bed to go grocery shopping and you made me drive you to Leader’s place first. I thought you were going to talk to him. Instead, you just put a box on his doorstep. You didn’t even ring the bell!”

“I don’t want to talk to him,” Nino said with a sigh. “Honestly, I’m not even sure I want him to know I was even here, so don’t you dare to say something.”

“Wouldn’t you think, he knows when he finds this?”

“Maybe,” Nino shrugged but then it was Ohno’s decision what to do with that knowledge and as long as the older didn’t mention it, he hadn’t to mention it.

“You’re silly.”

“Maybe,” Nino agreed with a small smile as he hid his face behind his arms with a deep sigh. “Let’s get going? Before anybody calls the police on us because we are lingering here. That would make just the headline we are needing right now.”

Aiba giggled at the idea but started the car to bring them to the next supermarket. “Why didn’t you go alone?” 

“Just because. You are going to feet the bill right?” Nino asked with a bratty grin. 

Aiba snorted. “No way!”

“Come on, as a thank you that you could crash at mine yesterday. I even offered you breakfast.”

“Coffee and a slice of toast.”

“Breakfast!” Nino insisted with a grin. 

Aiba rolled his eyes. He knew that in the end he would give in and it wasn’t that bad. Nino was a cheap man after all. 

“What was in the box?”

“Not going to tell you,” Nino said with a frown. 

“Then I won’t pay for you. Was it porn?”

“No! You idiot. I would never put porn in a box in front of Oh-chan’s family house. His mother would get a heart attack. I’m not you.”

“I never did that.”

“You put porn in my mailbox when we were juniors. Mom was laughing hysterically!”

“Well, she got me grounded. I learnt my lesson,” Aiba said with a pout, drawing a chuckle from his companion at the memory. 

“Ah good old times.” 

“No, really now though, what was in the box?”

“Things. You don’t need to know more for now. So please stop bothering me. It still hurts just so you know. And I really don’t want to talk with him in the moment or about him, honestly.”

“Okay, I got it, sorry,” Aiba sighed. 

“But you know that you have to face him tomorrow, right?”

“Yes,” Nino breathed as he leant back and hit the headrest harshly once or twice. “I will be a proper professional and adult then. I promise. So you can calm down the others. Nobody will realise we are in a jiff right now because I won’t talk to him or not touch him.”

“You not childish? That’s a novelty,” Aiba teased. Nino frowned as he hit him. 

“You are awful today.”

“Sorry, sorry. You dragged me out without a proper breakfast.”

“Yeah let’s get this done and then you can take me to have a proper breakfast so quit moaning.”

“Oh and I’m supposed to pay for that as well?”

Nino looked at him innocently. “It’s not as if you want to let me starve right?”

“Brat. Come on then.”

Nino grinned brightly as he stepped out of the car and followed Aiba into the still very empty supermarket. As he had promised he only needed a few things and they were out of it before the first rush made it into the supermarket. Jun had already filled his cupboards and fridge very well, but there were things that Nino wanted or thought necessary that Jun never would approve off after all. And now he needed to stock up on those things.

They found a small coffee shop that had a breakfast menu that Aiba approved off and he bought them both breakfast before finally dropping him off at home again.

—

_~Hey Kazu,  
I got your things. They are cute! When did you bring them? Mom said they were outside when she went to get the paper this morning. Some of the clothes are a little bit too big for him right now, but mom said that it will change fast and that they are perfect then. _

_And I thought of a name. He reacts to it even so please don’t be mad? But you should be proud of me, right? You told me to think of a name after all._

_His name is Tomoya as of today from. I already registered it._

_He is laughing a lot whenever I call him and claps his hands. He can sit on his own already which is normal for his age, I know. But he still had problems when he came here a week ago. He is developing fast._

_Whenever something is out of his reach he is all grumpy and babbles in an unhappy voice. I don’t understand a thing but he will try to grab it and today he even managed to move slightly into that direction. I think he was more surprised than me._

_He turned around, staring at me with big eyes and a wide-open mouth. Then he cried. He was so cute as he stared at me like that. I couldn’t help but giggle at the sight even if of course I picked him up and calmed him down. He was spooked by himself it seemed._

_He likes the wooden snail with the bricks that were in the box. He likes to move the cord around while babbling loudly. That was also when he moved the very first time forward. Mom had changed his diapers and put him back a bit too far from the toy. He really wanted to get it, I think._

_The teddy bear is cute as well. He buries his head in the soft body and I always fear that he suffocates himself. But he seems to like him._

_I’m probably already annoying you, right? So I’ll stop. I added some pictures of him for you. I hope you like them._

_I’ll see you tomorrow. Tomoya will be with my mother for the day so you don’t need to fear to see him, okay?_

_I know that tomorrow will be another strange day where we will behave as if nothing happens. I will try my best as to not start crying when I see you._

_With love,  
Satoshi and Tomoya~_

Nino clicked his tongue at the mail and shook his head a very small smile on his face, even if he felt tears burning in his eyes yet again. It was typical of Ohno to do such a thing. 

He clicked on the pictures to push the thought away for a moment. He smiled as he saw the toddler in a pale yellow cloth with fishes on it, grinning brightly as Ohno held him on his lap. Then another picture of him in a white one with a mushroom from Super Mario in the front (and Nino knew there was the star on his bottom). It was both clothes they had bought for his nephew at that age but Satoru had never worn them because he had grown too fast for them to fit him when the right time had come actually. 

The next picture was of him on his back waving around the cord of the snail with one stick his legs moving as well. He was surprised to actually find a video attached and giggled when he heard Ohno’s voice cheering the boy on as he robbed forward on the floor to get to the bear and laughed as a loud shriek was heard by the boy when his fingers touched the soft cloth. Nino grinned as he remembered the joy whenever he had the bear in his arms. 

_~You’re awful, choosing that name. I know what you did. Don’t try and be sly or tell you didn’t choose it specifically._

_But it is a beautiful name. I will give you that and if he listens to it. It’s all that is important. I’m glad he liked the things. Don’t get used to it though. I won’t bring you anything for a while. I hope you got some books to read to him though. He needs to be read stories so that he can read the characters better than you when he gets older._

_About tomorrow… I won’t be a stranger, I promise. But I might not be strong enough to face you just yet. Not outside of recordings. I’m sorry about that. I really am. Because I know I’m being childish but I can’t help myself._

_Please, don’t be mad if I ignore you outside of it for tomorrow. And thank you for considering me and not take Tomoya with you._

_Until tomorrow,  
Nino~_


	11. Chapter 11

He was late. Nino swore as he jumped into the car and closed the door behind him with a bang. 

“I’m sorry,” he cried as Kondo started the car and drove away. The woman threw him a look before she shook her head. 

“It’s okay.”

“Still, sorry, I wanted to be on time,” he sighed as he leant back. His fingers tried to reach for his handheld game machine just to realise that he had forgotten it. 

He groaned and rubbed his eyes. The day could only get better, he thought unhappily. He had wanted a calm morning with enough time to wake up, get ready and eat breakfast. Now he hadn’t even had time for a cup of coffee. He had just managed to slip on a pair of shoes, a coat and a hat. It was a bit annoying that Jun would judge him the moment he would enter their Green Room but he knew the stylists would make him look like he had everything he wanted to achieve. 

“Are you still not okay?”

“Just feeling out of it a little bit today,” Nino said. “I feel much better though. Don’t worry. I’m good for work, just the free time had been too long, maybe.”

“Only you guys think that a week without work is too long,” Kondo snorted and he smiled softly.

“Maybe,” he mumbled, thinking how it didn’t feel like a week but much longer and shorter at the same time. 

He thanked the woman when they arrived at the agency and she let him out of the car at the front doors before leaving to park the cars at the parking lot. Nino stared at the big glass doors, feeling nausea rising inside of him. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that he hadn’t eaten anything yet.

He felt dread rising in him the further he went inside and a groan left his lips when he was finally in the elevator. How did he think this could work? He wanted to turn around and hide somewhere and not see Ohno face to face. Ohno had looked so good in the pictures and Nino was sure he looked like shit instead. 

Ohno would see him and then be happy that they were broken up. Nino was sure of that. How could anybody look at him and think that he was ever going to make a good father?

Ohno would just be disappointed and tell him that he should just forget everything. 

He blinked as the small bell sounded that indicated that he had arrived at the right floor. He stumbled out of the small stall, walking to the Green Room. He stood for the longest time in front of them, trying to decide if he was able to go in. He knew he should. He really should behave like the adult he was. Even if he didn’t feel like it. 

He breathed in deeply as he opened the door, relieved to see that only the other three were there right now.

“Morning,” he whispered as he closed the door behind him with a small click. He shrugged off his coat and then shuffled over to Aiba, who smiled friendly at him and dropped down beside him. He hid his face against his shoulder as Aiba’s heavy arm landed around his shoulders, drawing him close. 

“Leader is at make-up and fitting right now. Something wrong with his outfit for today’s recording,” Sho explained and he nodded thankfully.

He looked around slowly as he tried to control his breath and calm down his heart and stomach that felt as if it was set on a spinning circle. It was awful. He really wished he wasn’t like that. His eyes fell on the bag of his former lover and he smiled softly as he could see a toy peeking out of it. It was typical for Ohno to accidentally put something in and forget his wallet or phone. 

Maybe, just maybe, he could do this. Then the door opened and Nino’s breath hitched he stiffened with Aiba’s arms around him as he saw Ohno entering the room with that little shuffle that only he could make look graceful. 

His face was just the same as a few days ago. Had it really been just a week? His cheeks a bit puffier and his eyes were half-closed. He looked tired, exhausted and it was painful to think that it was his fault. He was the one that had pushed Ohno out of his life. It was his fault that he couldn’t take care of him. 

“Nino, Nino, hey breath,” Aiba’s urgent voice was suddenly beside him and he blinked. 

He gasped as he felt as if he was punched in the gut and jumped to his feet as his stomach finally gave up. He felt as if he was out in open water in a small boat in the midst of a storm and without any words he brushed past Ohno, ignoring his worried look as he stormed into their private bathroom to throw up. As he hadn’t eaten yet there was just the sour-tasting bile that made everything just worse. 

—

“Nino,” Ohno murmured as the door fell close with a bang behind the other man. He bit his lips as he stared at the closed door.

“That brat!” Jun said with a frown. “Like a drama queen. He promised to try.”

“Jun,” Ohno warned him, stopping him mid-rant. “He doesn’t do this on purpose. He can’t help it,” He grumbled with a frown. 

Nino always hid the best he could how he suffered from a very nervous stomach. Stressful things always made him throw up. But normally he was there to calm him down or to help him overcome that for the moment so that he could work. He was normally not the reason Nino felt like that though. 

Ohno wasn’t sure, he would be able to help Nino today. But he didn’t want to see him suffer like that. 

“But…”

They were interrupted by a knock at the door and Sho stood to let the person in. “Good morning, Kondo-san.”

“Hello, Sakurai-san. Where’s my charge?”

“In the bathroom, why?”

“I brought a bento. He overslept and should eat before recording.”

Ohno nodded with a smile as he took the bento box. “Thank you. We will make sure he eats,” he said with a calming smile.

“Thank you,” she said, with apparent relief in her voice. “I’ll leave it to you then.”

Ohno nodded with a smile. He and Kondo had spent hours talking and worrying about Nino when they had started or whenever life seemed to throw them something nasty. He knew that Nino had spent similar time with Takahashi. The good thing was that Kondo trusted him with Nino’s wellbeing. If it was always earned, Ohno wasn’t so sure, but he was thankful for it. 

Ohno checked the contents of the box, before deciding that the rice would have to be enough for now since that would be good for his stomach. He wasn’t sure if he was the right person right now, but he wanted to be, and more importantly: He was the only one Nino had trusted that much to tell him his problems and he would not let him down now. 

“Aiba?”

“Yes?” the man sat a bit more straight at the call and Ohno grinned softly at the hopeful look on his face. “Could you go to the vending machine? The one a floor up has ginger tea and that would be perfect right now.”

“Okay, got it.”

“Sho could you ask how much time we still have if Nino gets ready at the last possible minute?”

Sho nodded and got up. He left together with Aiba talking softly to the other. Ohno sighed as he rubbed his eyes, looking at Jun.

“I don’t get it,” Jun said, and Ohno chuckled.

Of course. Jun was their baby. Nino had tried trice as hard to hide any illnesses from Jun and so he hadn’t realised that Nino felt ill when he was very nervous like at the beginning. Later then Ohno had been there. Even before they were together Nino and Ohno had been close. 

And even if they were not a couple right now, Ohno thought that they were still friends. Hopefully at least. 

“Nino tends to get ill when he is nervous, or scared, or stressed. Today he is probably all of that together. So, yeah. Just let him be.”

Jun frowned but nodded as he understood what this was probably about. He stood and sighed. “Okay. I’ll leave you alone.”

“Thank you.”

Ohno watched him go, before checking the watch and deciding that Nino had suffered long enough all alone. He stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him as he heard Nino moan pitifully. 

“Hey, it’s me,” Ohno said as he stepped closer. 

“I’m sorry,” Nino said and Ohno flinched as he could hear the tears in his voice. 

Ohno sighed as he took a few more steps and opened the stall where Nino was hiding. He knelt behind him, massaging his neck to relieve some of the pain and then helping him up. 

“Don’t be. You can’t help this.”

“I wanted to be strong. But then… I saw you and…” his voice broke in a sob and Ohno sighed as he dragged him to his feet to lead him to the front so that he could wash his face and clean his mouth. 

“I didn’t expect you to jump me and be like every day, you know?”

“Yes,” Nino groaned. A part of him had maybe hoped for that though. And that had made everything worse than better. “I will be okay.”

“For sure,” Ohno said as he led him outside and let him lay down on the sofa. He would make sure that Nino was okay again. 

Nino watched Ohno opening the bento box, wrinkling his nose at the sight and smell of food. He hid his face behind his arm. He still wanted to run, but somehow Ohno’s words made it easier to stay right now (not that his legs would carry him properly).

“I’m awful,” Nino said with a sigh. “I make everything even harder for you.”

“No, nothing of this is your fault alone,” Ohno argued, his eyes hard. “Stop thinking like that. And putting the fault on yourself for not being easy.”

Nino bit his lips but nodded slowly. He would try. He blinked when Ohno appeared in front of him, in one hand a small bowl filled with the rice and a spoon to make it easier for him to eat.

“Eat,” he ordered and with a sigh, Nino sat up a little to follow his order if albeit slowly. He heard the others come back one after the other and thanked them for their help as he slowly felt human again.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N 1: This chapter will contain a bunch of snippets. So I apologise in advance if this is hard to read. 

Kazu,  
How are you feeling? Did you get home safe? I hope you had dinner and can relax now. Don’t stay up too late, schedule is hell right now.  
Love,  
Satoshi and Tomoya

><

I’m sorry for the way I reacted. I feel lots better now. I slept early so don’t worry. And of course, I ate. Don’t overfeed Tomoya.  
Nino

—

Hey Ohno,  
I found a lone clay figure under the bed. How did it end up there even? Also, there was a shirt behind the washing machine. Again, how did it get there?  
I will bring them to the next recording.  
Nino.

><

Kazu,  
Why are you cleaning those spaces? You should rest when you are home. Don’t you have to film a drama beside of recording and training? And then there is that 24h TV program. You got thinner, please take care. I worry a lot about you. 

Keep the figurine. It belongs in your home. I’m sure it hid there when I packed my stuff. 

Here comes the daily update: Tomoya calls me Daddy now!! Isn’t that great? Okay, it’s more a mumble but I’m sure it means Daddy. I put a video of it with this mail. 

He still loves the snail the most and he is laughing more and more each day. God, I’m sorry for hurting you with him in my life, but I love him to bits.

He is a little sunshine and I think he will only grow more from now on. 

Much love,  
Satoshi and Tomoya

><

Of course, he’ll grow more. He is a baby, Satoshi. Stupid. But I’m glad he is well. 

And I have time. It helps me to clear my head to write my solo. Don’t you worry. I had more than this. I’m still young after all. 

Nino

—

Kazu!!!

Tomoya walks. He walks. Oh God, he walks!

I added pictures (might’ve gone overboard sorry). But he is so cute! He takes a step or two before he falls on his behind. Then he looks so upset, pouts and crawls over to someplace he can pull himself up. And let me tell you: He is so cute doing that, that my mum is not even mad because he destroyed her favourite mug when one time he tried to pull himself up and grabbed the table cloth.

She would’ve skinned me alive if it was me. So mean. 

I’m teaching him to talk. The doctor says we should talk a lot to him so that he starts, talking more. It’s hard. You know me, I don’t talk much. It would help if you would be here. You tell the most fascinating stories without stumbling over the words in the children’s books. He will make fun of me when he gets older.

The doctor said he is surprised by the huge jump forward he did so far. Maybe I do some things right. 

But it’s easy with him. He is so smart!

With love!  
Satoshi and Tomoya

><

Dear Satoshi,  
What a proud daddy you are. 

I’m glad to see he is that happy though. You are doing great, Satoshi. 

You two make a great family. Thank you for the pictures. He is really cute. But yeah, you went a little overboard. I think one or two pictures would have been enough. Twenty was a little much on top of the two videos. I’m surprised it even fit all in one mail. 

I will see you for recording.

Greetings,  
Nino

_Nino bit his lips as he pressed send. Maybe, this would be it, he thought._

—

Kazu,  
Seeing you today broke my heart. I’m thankful for the things you and your mother brought me and Tomoya. The clothes are cute as always. 

We really went a bit overboard at getting stuff for Shota it seems? Thank you as well for the little picture books. Tomoya loves the one where each page has another texture and makes a sound. He can sit for hours tracing the patterns, with a cute little concentrated frown on his face. I added a picture of that. 

He loves your presents the best. 

Are you okay? Did you go with your mother? Please tell me you are okay. I need to know this is not killing you. Have you lost weight again? Who do I need to yell at for giving you so much trouble?

It’s most probably me, and I will gladly stand in front of the mirror to do so if needed. 

Kazu, never think there is not a place for you here. When I look at pictures of me and Tomoya there is always a blank space, some piece missing and that’s your smiling face. 

I still miss curling up around your body, smelling you and feeling your warmth around myself. Sometimes, when I’m alone with Tomoya I find myself turning around, calling out for you. Or when Tomoya does something cute.

It still hurts that nobody is answering back. 

Love,  
Satoshi and Tomoya

><

I’m sorry for the way I reacted earlier. But you and Tomoya, you looked so perfect to my eyes. A perfect little family. In my mind, there was no space for me. 

Don’t you worry though. Mum brought me home and chastised me. Called me the idiot I am for reacting like that. 

I’m fine, most of these days. I sometimes roll to what used to be your side of the bed, burrow my face into what used to be your cushion. But I only smell the softener I use. Your smell is long gone from my home. 

I always seem to make too much food, too much coffee, too much of everything. Just the washing seemed to never be enough for a full load and by the time it would be a full load I have too little shirts left. Only the ones that never feel right.

I hate this. I hate me on some nights, other nights I think I healed, I feel like I’m okay, then I hate myself for feeling like that. 

There is too much I want to say and too little words to do so. Satoshi, I feel like breaking apart and like there are missing pieces as I try to put myself together on some days. On others, I’m honestly okay. I feel normal, I feel fine. 

Some days the words come flowing and I need to write them down, ban them in songs that I will never play, but when I need them they seem to run away altogether. 

Whenever I see Tomoya’s pictures it hurts, I see a stranger in his face, when they don’t come, I feel broken because I miss seeing you both. 

It’s hard to love myself right now and I’m sorry about that. 

But I promise you, in the end, I will be stronger and okay again.

Yours,  
Kazu 

_If Ohno cried in the darkness of his room there were no eyes to witness his tears. And for that, he was thankful because he had promised to stay strong until the end._

—

You silly, silly, silly human being. I would dare say there are more important things for you to teach him then my name!

><

Kazu,  
Never, never ever is there a more important word for him to learn than your name. It’s the most important word in my life after all.

I wanted to teach him Kazu but it’s still too hard for him to say. But Nino is okay. He likes the word. He sings it all the time. Ni~no, Ni~no, Ni~no followed by giggles and clapping. 

He likes your name. He likes seeing you on TV as well. I would be jealous if it was someone else. But since it’s you I can understand he has a crush on you. 

Kazu, I still love you. I’m still rooting for us.

Love,  
Satoshi & Tomoya

—

Dear Tomoya,  
Never, listen, never become as silly as your father, promise me that.  
Nino.

—

Gods, Kazu,  
You are… God, sexy. The song hurts though. Are you okay?

><

Stupid,  
Don’t read too much into it. But a few things are true. I can’t seem to function in a world that you aren’t by my side properly anymore. 

And I’ve laid my claim, haven’t I?

><

Yes…

Do you think the next song could be a love song?

><

I don’t know, maybe. Sleep, you need it. Take care of yourself and Tomoya. 

—

Kazu,  
I’m so tired, dead… I think I’m dead. Why are 24 hours so long? Are we stupid?

God when was the last time I slept? Ah, yes something around 30 hours ago.

I hope you are already in bed, sweet dreams Kazu. 

Tomoya just woke up. He wants cuddles. Did I mention that I want to sleep?

So tired. I will sleep for a million years… Maybe just half as long, there is Tomoya to consider and I should be up in time for his graduation. 

Oh, sleep, where are thou?

Yes, his eyes are closing, please fall asleep, please please, please.

Yosh, Off to sleep now!

BTW: you should’ve warned me that you were gonna write the letter this year. I might have almost bawled.

Love, Satoshi (& a very disgruntled Tomoya)

><

You shouldn’t text, while holding a baby, Satoshi. That’s common sense. Like, don’t drive when drunk or drugged (or awake for more than 24 hours. Scratch that you should never text when you’ve been up for that long! Period). 

I’m up by the way. Slept at my mother’s house. Got breakfast and lunch made by her. I’m the luckiest. Luckier than you at least. She makes the best food (don’t tell your mother I said that!)

—

Satoshi,  
There is a secret I need to tell you.  
Kazu

><

Will you tell me?

><

Not yet, I’m sorry. Kazunari.

—

_”Hello?”_

_“Kazu, I need a favour to ask of you and I’m sorry about that.”_

A/N 2: And yes, I totally forgot where I set this story… It’s now a few days after 24h TV from 2008. This chapter covered a few weeks though. And I hope this is okay.


	13. Chapter 13

Nino felt his heart beat faster at the sound of Ohno’s honest voice so close to his ear. They had talked a bit over the last weeks, of course, they were in a group. They needed to talk about programmes and sometimes they kept themselves updated through small phone calls in the attempt to get closer again and mails or even just a short message was too much to bother. 

Still, each time Ohno’s voice was like a caress and he thought that Ohno needed to call him more often or tall directly into his ear because it made things with his insides that were so hard to describe and to believe. 

“Kazu, still there?”

“Ah, yes sorry. What is it?” Nino asked frowning as he listened to the hectic tone in his voice that meant that Ohno was already running late for whatever he actually needed to be doing. He shouldn’t be calling him, he realised.

“Are you spacing out again.”

“No?” Nino tried and grimaced. “You’re the spacey one.”

“Sure,” Ohno chuckled and Nino bit his lip at that sound. Then the tone changed to serious again: “The babysitter called in sick, I have to leave for work in a bit. And I have already called everybody I can think of. My mom is not here. She is out taking care of my grandmother who fell and my sister has work. The other guys are all at work and I can’t just call a student to babysit over or anybody without the okay from the agency.”

Nino blinked as the realisation came over him at to what Ohno was asking him without doing so directly. He licked his lips, feeling how his hands went cold and slightly wet with nervousness. “Oh-chan I…”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I wouldn’t call if I had another idea. I trust you. I can’t give Tomoya to just anybody, please,” Ohno pleaded. “If I had another idea I wouldn’t have called you. I promise. Just for today. A few hours tops, I will treat you to anything you want.”

Nino tried to find a way out of it, maybe he could say that his mother would be able to look after Tomoya, but he knew that it wouldn’t work. He closed his eyes trying to calm down his heart. 

“Okay… I’ll be there. When?”

Nino could hear laughter bubble up in Ohno’s throat, that kind of relieved laughter that just punches out of you without anything you can do to stop it, regardless of how hard you tried, really. 

“Thank you! Thank you,” Ohno whispered, and Nino was surprised at how choked up Ohno was. “The sooner the better. I actually should be already gone by now. The babysitter called late. Takahashi-san already told me that he would look in a more reliable one.”

Nino breathed in deeply but started to move around and snag his small bag which always had all necessities inside he needed when he left the house. He checked the contents once more, before he was at the door, slipping into his boots. “Okay, I’m on my way. Call Takahashi-san, you can leave in a bit. And you can buy me those exclusive coffee brand that I like but never buy.”

“Got it,” Ohno said. Nino ended the call without saying goodbye, throwing his phone into his bag before slipping on a light jacket and leaving the house to drive to Ohno’s family home. He felt sick to the stomach honestly but work was more important than his feelings.

Ohno was already opening the door as Nino approached and Nino lifted an eyebrow. “Tomoya startles easily with doorbells,” Ohno said with a slight blush. “I thought you would like to start without him crying.”

“Very thoughtful of you,” Nino said after a moment, before slipping inside the house. He took off his shoe and jacket and followed Ohno into the house. He rubbed his arms, telling himself that this was fine and he was behaving silly.

“I’m sorry I don’t have much time. Tomoya’s toys are in the living room, he is allowed music or audiobooks. He likes it better if you sing or read to him though. There are prepared meals at the fridge. Mom made me do them. He should have one around one pm. If the kitchen is a disaster afterwards ignore it. I will clean it up when I’m home.”

Nino nodded as he followed him through the doors to the kitchen where Ohno showed him a few small containers filled with different kinds of baby food. He was impressed that Ohno did them, but he should’ve anticipated that Ohno’s mother wouldn’t accept bought glasses. 

“He only gets water from a cup, so no sugary drinks, please. But if he gets fuzzy you can try to give him a bottle with milk. It might calm him down, especially if it’s time for a nap. You can call me at any time. Takahashi-san agreed to have my phone with him any time and I will stop recordings if needed.”

“It’s not the first time I looked after a child, you know?” Nino said with a small pinched smile on his face.

Ohno bit his lips but then he nodded in agreement. He was a bit ashamed of not having thought of that earlier. “Yeah sorry. It’s just…”

Nino smiled and squeezed his shoulder. “Your son. I will take care of him, I promise.”

Ohno took a deep breath, starting to say something when his phone beeped. “I need to go. I trust you. Thank you again.” Then he hesitated for a second, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “Would you stay for dinner?”

Nino looked at him for a long moment, long enough for the phone to beep again, as Takahashi sent a second message but then he nodded. “Yes, I would. Now go.”

Ohno’s smile was brilliant and Nino’s face went hot when Ohno turned around and shot to the living room, picking up Tomoya and kissing his cheeks. 

“Tomoya, I have to go. Nino will look after you,” he said and pointed at Nino at the doorway. “Be a good boy ne?”

Tomoya nodded a funny serious expression on his face, before he giggled, hitting Ohno’s face with his hands. 

“Yeah, you’ll be fine. Goodbye, Tomoya,” he said putting him down again and waving at him. 

Tomoya waved with both hands. “Papa bye!”

Nino chuckled when Ohno rushed out and the door fell close behind him. He stared at Tomoya for a moment, whose face changed from happy to confusion and then to miserable as he understood that Ohno was gone now. Nino sighed and thought that the first meeting between them should not have been without Ohno in the middle. As Tomoya started to cry Nino walked over and was not sure that he would be able to do this.

“Tomoya, Tomoya,” he said as he knelt in front of him, cupping his face in between his hands and softly stroking his tears away. “Papa will come back. So don’t cry, ne?” he said at the sniffing boy. His eyes scanned the toys lying around until he found the teddy bear and wooden snail that Ohno had mentioned he liked. 

He pulled them over moving the snail in front of Tomoya’s face who stared at it for a moment, but then dropped down on his butt when Nino handed him the big green ball belonging to it. Nino smiled as Tomoya babbled softly and hit the wood against the snail as he had already forgotten about his misery from before. Nino was happy that Tomoya was at least used to his father not being home all day. 

—

Nino slowly relaxed around Tomoya. The boy was golden, just like Ohno had promised him. He had played most of the morning all alone on the floor, trying out the different toys that scattered around and Nino could play a game on his DS while keeping an eye on the boy as he toddled around the room and just had to catch him once before he would fall headfirst into the low table. He eyed the boy who still babbled lowly to himself and wondered how someone with Ohno’s genes could be so talkative. Well, at least, Nino thought wryly, Tomoya was not as accident-prone as Ohno had been as a child. 

He put the game away as he saw that Tomoya was rubbing his eyes and swaying slightly where he sat. “Are you tired, Tomoya?” he asked the boy and held out his hand for Tomoya to get to his feet. 

“Shall we change your diaper and then you take a nap?”

Tomoya shook his head, no, but still walked on Nino’s hand over to the bathroom without any more prompting. Nino hid a smile at the cute boy as he climbed up a step and then looked at Nino holding up his arms. 

“Oh, so you want to, huh?” Nino asked in a teasing voice as he placed him on the mat and looked for another diaper before changing the one he was wearing right now. Tomoya was sucking at his thumb and Nino wondered if he should forbid that. Ohno hadn’t said anything about a pacifier either. He grimaced as he decided that it was not his duty to keep a check on such things if he hadn’t been told them and closed the jumper again before lifting him up. Tomoya sighed as he snuggled up to him, closing his eyes. 

“Sleepy boy,” Nino whispered as he carried him down to the living room again, thanking Ohno in his mind for putting the cot in there, so that he didn’t have to go into Ohno’s room. Nino watched Tomoya as he was leaning against him, already half asleep, wondering how calm the boy was. Satoru had been a lot whinier at that age, especially if he was sleepy. Maybe it was just his lucky day or Ohno’s calm demeanour was already embedded in this boy. 

Nino put him down in his cot and pulled a thin blanket over him to protect him from the breeze as he sat down in front of it staring at Tomoya deep in thought. Tomoya looked a lot like his father, he realised. Honestly, he had already seen that on the pictures but this close up the similarity was uncanny. The same round cheeks that Nino wanted to poke (but didn’t because he didn’t want to have a wailing toddler around), the long dark lashes that women would probably kill for and the full pink lips that Nino always wanted to kiss. 

“Your papa has every right to be proud of you,” he whispered, before getting up and starting to clean the scattered toys before his mind would go to places he wasn’t sure he wanted to explore. 

A/N: Hope this was okay. Part two of the babysitting bit will be up another day xD Sorry if this is short. But I want to write more about Nino’s insights and I think I will need another chapter for that. And yay? Finally, moving forward? A bit at least.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I know that 24h TV was in August and the Kokuritsu was in September... But please just bear with me badgering the real timeline to fit into this story.

Tomoya babbled in his sleep and Nino put away his phone. He checked the time and decided that it was probably time for Tomoya to eat his lunch. He hurried to the kitchen to check on the meals. He pulled one out and then brought water to boil to put the box in it and warm the food up gently. 

When a loud cry sounded through the house, he flinched. Yep, Tomoya inherited the lungs of his father, he thought dryly and flicked off the stove before hurrying into the living room. 

“Tomoya,” he sang as he picked the wailing baby up. He groaned as he got hit in the face and started to rock the boy. “Don’t cry, baby boy. Everything is alright,” he continued as he rocked him and finally managed to put him against his upper body. 

That way he wasn’t scared anymore that Tomoya would fall or hurt one of them. The downside was that the wailing was now directly beside his ear and that hurt - a lot. 

He rubbed his back and started humming, his lips pressed against Tomoya’s head. That calmed Satoru at least. 

The cries settled down to lower sniffles, but tears were still running over his plump cheeks. “Baby boy are you hungry? Or do your nappies need to be changed?” he asked, frowning down at the boy. “Or are you disappointed that I’m not your papa?”

Tomoya’s eyes got more alert at the use of papa and Nino swore under his breath as Tomoya looked around. “Dada!” he cried and Nino carried him over to first change his diapers. He tickled the baby boy to at least keep the tears to a minimum. 

“Dada!” he shouted louder. 

“Your papa will be home later, Tomoya. Your papa is working, that’s why I’m here.”

Tomoya looked at him as if he had betrayed him and Nino bit his lips when Tomoya started to cry again.

“Tomoya are you hungry?”

“Hun, hun!”

Nino sighed as he picked him up again and stroke his back as he continued to rock him and sing lowly to him as he carried him to the kitchen. He put him into the high chair there - or tried at least. But Tomoya was fighting him with hands and legs and Nino was scared that the boy would hurt himself. He wouldn’t be able to explain to Ohno that he had let Tomoya hurt himself. God Ohno would probably hate him and never trust him again, which Nino would fully understand. 

“Yes, yes. I got it, please stop, Tomoya,” he said as he carried him to the stove to fish out the prepared meal and balanced Tomoya and the box to the table. Tomoya recognised the box that normally contained his meals. 

Nino put it on the table, opening the lid so that it could cool down a bit more before carrying Tomoya to the cupboards to get a spoon and his water cup. Tomoya was wriggling on his arms, loudly complaining that he still couldn’t eat. 

“Clearly your father’s son. Yes, Tomoya we eat now,” he told him, rolling his eyes.

He sat on the chair in front of the food and placed Tomoya on his lap, he fought with the hands that wanted to reach into the dish. Tomoya cried loudly wriggling in his hold and Nino winced when the little fingers pinched his skin and he let him almost go. He tightened his hold around Tomoya and tried some of the vegetable mash, happy that it was not too hot. 

Tomoya stared at him with tears in his eyes, his mouth opening and closing as he demanded to be fed. Nino chuckled and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Yes, food now,” he agreed and filled the spoon again to start feeding Tomoya. 

He sighed in relief as Tomoya obediently opened his mouth to take the food in. 

Nino carefully had one arm around Tomoya as he held his hands with his own so that he wouldn’t be able to throw the food around. Tomoya still stared into his face, leaning halfway against him as he ate the food until his lips pressed close and he moved his head away. 

“Are you full?”

“No!” Tomoya cried, opening his mouth again. The moment Nino tried to feed him again, he moved back again. 

“A bit more?” Nino tried again. 

“NO!” Tomoya cried even more loudly, wriggling more in his arms again. 

“Good then no more food,” Nino agreed with a sigh. He put the spoon into the rest of the mash and pulled over the water cup to offer it to Tomoya. Tomoya took the cup with both hands, gulping down the water. Nino rubbed his cheek to clean a bit of food away and was proud of himself that he managed to feed the boy without destroying the kitchen or having to change Tomoya’s clothes.

He leant back while he stared out of the window. He didn’t realise that Tomoya apparently had finished his drink and was waving the cup around. Nino flinched when the cup hit the dish and the rest of the mash went flying halfway over Nino’s arm, over the chair and dirtied most of Tomoya’s clothes and his face. 

Tomoya blinked in utter silence for a moment, before he started crying again. 

“Don’t cry, baby boy,” he said as he carried him to the bathroom. He washed the face and hands and rubbed away the still flowing tears. He pulled off Tomoya’s shirt and his own, before lifting him again and started to rock him. 

He fell to the sofa after a moment, with Tomoya on top of him where he slowly relaxed again. At least as long as Nino didn’t try to put him down again to do anything - like cleaning the kitchen, getting a new shirt for Tomoya or a toy. 

Nino sighed, feeling too exhausted to argue with the boy and pressed his lips against his forehead when Tomoya curled up on top of him, his thumb in his mouth as he sniffled softly. 

“Comfy?” he asked the boy as Tomoya pressed himself closer. “At least you are very warm and soft,” Nino decided, hugging him closer to himself. 

“Ni~no,” Tomoya whispered, before repeating his name with a small laugh as he snuggled closer to him. 

“Yes Nino,” Nino teased as he tickled him. 

“Ni~no!” Tomoya repeated, lifting himself a bit up to be able to pat his face. Nino chuckled and kissed his little fingers.

Nino sighed as he lied down on the sofa and put Tomoya halfway on top of him and halfway to his side. His arm was around the boy and he stared down at him with fond eyes. 

“You’re very cute, you know Tomoya? And a little troublemaker. But your papa loves you very much, for which I am very glad. I’m proud of your papa,” he whispered, smiling fondly at the thought of Ohno. 

“Your papa knew that you would complicate his whole life and still, he decided to take you in. I know that he did it because of me, but now it’s all for you. You are the most important thing in his world and that is something beautiful. Your papa loves with his whole heart. Being important to him makes your life very special.”

He sighed as he looked down at the boy, who stared at him with his bug trusting eyes, that reminded him a lot of Ohno. He wanted to protect them. 

“Tomoya? I love your papa. I love him very much and it hurts to be apart. But… But I’m scared,” he whispered, bopping Tomoya’s nose. “And this is a secret you are not allowed to tell your papa, promise?”

“Ni~no,” Tomoya said with a giggle and Nino grinned. He would take whatever he got, he thought.

“Your papa is wonderful. He still loves me, even if I’m selfish and stubborn. But… I can’t just get back together with him. Not with you in the equation. And please, don’t think I hate you, little boy. You are a small, wonderful miracle, but you complicate things. If… If I and your papa are in a relationship, I deny you a mother. I’m not sure that I will be able to be a second father either. I have not the best role models for that and I wouldn’t want you to go through the same pain I had to. But I also am scared of you hating me, because your papa and I can’t be out in the open. I would never be able to bear you detesting me and then Satoshi to hate me for hurting you, Tomoya.” Nino breathed in deeply, smiling at the wonderful scent that clung to little children. 

“And…” he whispered, his heart already breaking at the thought. “If I let you and Satoshi into my life again. I know that I would never be able to let either of you go again without breaking full. It was already scary enough this time. Another time… I’m not sure I can survive. I’m sorry, baby boy for making your papa so sad, but I can’t close my mind off fully. Those thoughts scare me, a lot.”

—

Ohno sneaked back to the entryway as careful as possible. There he wiped away his tears and just breathed in deeply a few times before he opened and closed the door more loudly now. He could hear the gasp from the living room as he put a smile on his face. He needed to make sure that Nino never knew that he had heard those words. Ohno feared that Nino would close off again otherwise and Ohno wouldn’t be able to bear it. Not now. 

“I’m home, and I brought dinner,” he called as he walked over to the living room. He grinned at his happy son who stretched out his arms as far as he could. 

“Dada!” he cried out happily and he picked him up to kiss his head, as he tried not to watch Nino who put a smile on his face, the sadness that had lingered earlier on his face completely gone.

“Have you been a good boy to Nino?”

“Ni~no,” Tomoya agreed, giggling as he moved in his arms. 

“He was golden,” Nino replied. “But the kitchen… Well, let’s say Tomoya decided it needed to be redecorated.”

Ohno snorted as he put Tomoya down to the floor who directly crawled over to his teddy bear hugging it tightly before dragging it off to Nino and presenting it to him. 

“Ni~no!”

“For me?” Nino asked with a smile as he took the bear and ruffled Tomoya’s hair. “Thank you.”

“I will clean up the kitchen and then we can eat? You will stay right?” Ohno asked, heart in his throat. It could be that Nino would still want to go home and he knew he had to accept that.

Nino stared down at the teddy in his hand for a few minutes, before smiling down at Tomoya who held on to his knees as he pulled himself up. 

“It would be a waste of money to let the take out food grow cold,” he decided then.

Ohno nodded with a smile as he vanished to get plates. The clean-up could wait until Nino was gone and Tomoya in bed, he decided.


	15. Chapter 15

Nino observed Tomoya crawling around before the boy came back to him. He was babbling and pulled himself up on Nino’s trousers. Nino could hear Ohno rummaging in the kitchen and supposed that the other was arranging their food in bowls. 

“Up!” Tomoya asked as he tugged at his hands. 

“Little terror. I wonder if your papa is preparing your dinner as well,” Nino wondered as the boy waved their hands around. 

“Up! Ni~No,” he demanded again. 

Nino rolled his eyes but got up to his feet. He gave him his other hand as well and Tomoya showed him a toothy smile as he grabbed now both of his hands. Tomoya pulled himself up at his hands and Nino made sure to not lift his arms not too high as to not hurt the little boy. 

But Tomoya was still babbling happily as he walked to the front with his help. 

Nino looked up when he heard chuckling and frowned with a lifted eyebrow. 

“He looks comfortable around you,” Ohno said with a smile as he smiled down to Tomoya who now stared up at his father with a bright smile. 

“Dada!” 

“Yes, what is it Tomoya?” he asked as he put the dishes on the low table. 

“Not the kitchen?” Nino asked with a small smile. 

Ohno looked a bit sheepish as Tomoya walked over to his father and let Nino go as he fell against his leg.

“I didn’t feel like cleaning it up just yet. I will do so when the little man here is in bed,” he explained.

Nino nodded with a smile as he knelt on the floor and spread out the dishes a bit more out so that they both would be able to reach them. 

“I’ll be right back,” Ohno mumbled as he picked up Tomoya swinging the giggling boy around as he carried him to the bathroom to change his diaper. 

Nino hummed softly as he watched them go and then groaned as Ohno was gone. He put his forehead against the cold table for a moment as he tried to calm down his nerves. He felt strange, being here with Ohno around and in a way, he didn’t know why he agreed to this to begin with. 

“It’s just dinner,” he whispered to himself as he sat up straight again as he heard Ohno coming back with a babbling toddler in tow. 

—

They ate dinner in silence for a while and Nino looked at Tomoya who wasn’t making a fuss when Ohno fed him his porridge. 

“You got good at that.”

“Mum wouldn’t allow anything else,” Ohno said with a sigh. “And rightly so. It was hard at the start but we muddled through right Tomoya?” he asked the boy who smacked his lips before opening it again for another spoonful. 

“That’s good. You both make a very good pair,” Nino said honestly, smiling when Ohno looked at him slightly proud at the praise but not sure if he was allowed to feel like that. 

Nino chuckled as he put some meat into his mouth, grinning down at Tomoya when the boy crawled over, now sated and leant against him. He ruffled his hair with his fingertips. 

Tomoya babbled slightly and put his thumb in his mouth as he slumped against him. Ohno clicked his tongue and got up a second later. 

“I didn’t know if he was allowed,” Nino said as he let Tomoya rest beside him, nibbling at his lip. “He sucked at his thumb when I put him down for the nap.”

“It’s fine. But the doctor said it would be better if he uses a pacifier instead of his thumb,” Ohno said as he got one from a box and handed it to Tomoya.

“Here you go.”

“Thank,” Tomoya mumbled as he stuck it into his mouth and then crawled over to drag his teddy back to Nino to curl up on his side.

“Shall I put him to bed?” Ohno asked but Nino shook his head. 

“He is not hindering me and he seems to stay with us.”

“Yeah, he gets lonely easily,” Ohno admitted with a frown. “First I tried to put him to bed and then leave, he would cry a lot.”

“Of course. Being alone in a strange room in the dark is scary,” Nino said with a sigh. 

“He seems to like to sleep together with me on the bed. We snuggle a lot when I’m home.”

Nino smiled fondly at the words and at how embarrassed Ohno still looked. As if he was admitting bad things that way, but Nino found it adorable. More so when he remembered how sudden this all happened. For him, it only showed how much love Ohno now had for this little boy who needed it. 

“That way he also can stay alone in a room for a bit. But going to sleep he likes to listen to songs or be read a story until he falls asleep and then a little bit longer,” Ohno explained with a small pout. Once he had left the room just after Tomoya’s eyes had fallen close. The crying match afterwards had been awful and it had taken more than an hour to calm him down again. 

They fell to silence again, Nino eating the last of his cucumber salad before staring at Ohno who was watching Tomoya with a small, loving smile before he continued to eat. Nino drank the water he had by hand, wishing for a beer for a moment, but he had come by car and he couldn’t drive with alcohol in his system. If it got out the agency would yell at him (rightly so) and it would make a big scandal. 

But Nino knew that he wouldn’t be able to stay here for the night. His heart was already hurting enough as it was. 

“Kazu?”

“Mh?”

“How are you feeling?” Ohno asked and Nino blinked as he looked up. He opened his lips for a few times, before closing it and frowning with pursed lips.

“I’m…”

“Don’t say okay, Nino. I can see that you are not.”

Nino bit his lips at that and stared down at his hands that were wandering over the round cheek of the boy still curled up on top of his lap. It was so easy to say those words. He said it a lot to Kondo. But he knew his manager mostly was worried about his work and he was always able to manage it. Not always perfectly but well enough. 

His mother didn’t ask. She mostly made sure that he ate, slept and tried to make sure that he opened up to Ohno and Tomoya. He knew she did that because she was certain that Nino was only at his best with the older. Ohno had always been a missing piece in his life. 

First, he had been a best friend but over the years Nino had realised that he had always been closer to him than to normal friends. Aiba told him that they were like soul mates. And even if he knew that Aiba was just mushy, a part of him felt like it was true. That was why he felt so unbalanced since they were this distant. And he had nobody than him to blame for that, which he knew but it didn’t make it any better. More likely the opposite really. 

The rest of their members… They try to make them be like always in their way. They didn’t ask him how he felt like that. They supposed they knew and understood his feelings better than he did himself. 

Nino startled when he felt fingers on his cheek, catching tears he hadn’t known were on there and he looked up, blinking rapidly. 

“That bad, huh?” Ohno said with a sigh. 

“Satoshi?” 

“Mh?”

“Will it ever be like before?”

Ohno smiled fondly down at him and Nino didn’t know when the other had come so close to him, honestly. There was a sorry look on his face as he shook his head. “No.”

Nino flinched at the words, feeling out of breath suddenly. 

“It can’t be. Not with Tomoya’s existence. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be better than it had been before. Sorry, Nino, I didn’t want to scare you. I didn’t mean we can’t happen. But it won’t be like before.”

Nino felt something lighten inside of him as he nodded. Breathing deeply. 

“Okay, okay, right,” he agreed almost breathlessly. 

Ohno cupped his head and rubbed a spot just under his ear that always comforted Nino as it did now. It was a relief for Nino to know that he was still able to feel like that with Ohno. 

Ohno smiled and kissed his forehead, just a soft, almost not there, touch of dry lips against his skin. 

“Take care of yourself, okay? You lost a lot of weight and I know it’s not for a new role. So don’t try that excuse.”

Nino blushed but nodded. “I’ll try,” he promised. “But I don’t know if I can make it. I don’t feel strong enough.”

Ohno chuckled as he ruffled his hair. “I believe in you. You are strong and brave Kazu,” Ohno said fondly. 

“I hope I won’t disappoint you,” Nino said with a grimace. He didn’t feel anything like that. 

“You never could, stupid,” Ohno said as he tweaked his nose and sighed when he picked Tomoya up who had truly and fully fallen to sleep on Nino’s lap. He bit his lips as to not ask the other to be allowed to take a picture of him with his son. But he knew that it was too early for that. 

“Unfair,” he murmured though when Nino took a picture without any remorse. 

“I need a picture of the lovely papa-son pair,” Nino said with a shrug as he pocketed his phone. He got to his feet as did Ohno with Tomoya in his arms, who whined lowly and opened his eyes at the movement. 

“I should head home. You listen to your papa, you hear?” he said to the boy, caressing his cheek with his fingertip. 

He took a deep breath and moved forward to put his lips against Ohno’s rough cheek. 

“Good night, Satoshi. Thank you,” he said. 

Ohno smiled as he brought him to the door. Nino turned around as he looked at him for just a moment. “I will not give up just yet,” he promised.

“That’s all I can ask for,” Ohno agreed. “Say bye-bi, Tomoya.”

Tomoya moved his hand sleepily, murmuring something incomprehensible.

Nino smiled as he went to his car and drove home. There he took a deep breath and pulled out his phone. He put the picture he had taken as a new screen saver, before opening his messages.

 **Take me on a date.** he wrote and hesitated for a moment longer before he added a picture he had taken earlier that day and clicked on send, his heart beating furiously inside his chest.


	16. Chapter 16

**Let me take you out on Friday? I talked with Kondo-san. She told me you were free the evening and the next day you are not needed until late afternoon?**

**Oh so you are making me miss curfew? Bad Oh-chan.**

**So Friday?**

**Sounds good. What are we going to do?**

**That’ll be a secret. Thank you for giving me this chance, Kazu.**

—

“Hey Oh-chan,” Nino greeted as he answered the phone. “About to cancel?”

“Don’t joke about that,” Ohno said with an evident pout in his voice. “I’m really excited about this so that you know. I think I thought up the perfect plan for you and me.”

“So why are you calling? I’m not going to stand you up,” Nino said, sounding just a tad offended.

“I didn’t think that either. I just remembered a very embarrassing detail.”

“And that would be?”

“I don’t have a license. I’m doing it right now with the help of the agency because mum convinced me that I should be mobile now that I have a little child to consider.”

“Makes sense. You should be able to take him to the doctors or hospital if something happens.”

“That’s what she said,” Ohno mumbled. “Well, but I still need a bit longer, studying is hard and time is sparse…. So yeah, would you prefer to drive us or a cab?”

“I will fetch you up around seven?”

“Thank you. The time is perfect. I can put Tomoya to bed myself then,” he said with a happy grin. Nino chuckled slightly. 

“That boy has wrapped you around his little finger,” Nino chuckled. 

“You sound too happy even to make that seem like a complaint.”

“It wasn’t meant to,” Nino said earnestly. “Take care of your boy. I have to get back.”

“Yup, until Friday!”

“Until then,” Nino agreed with a small chuckle before hanging up when his name was called. 

Ohno grinned happily, moving around to look after his little boy. He picked him up and turned with him in his arms. He felt ridiculously giddy and very nervous.

—

Nino pulled at his still slightly styled hair from earlier as he stopped the car in front of Ohno’s house. For a second he tried to decide if he should wait in the car or go over and ring the bell. Both somehow seemed wrong. 

With a small sigh, he got out of his car. He walked over to the door, ready to ring the bell when the door opened. 

Nino flinched a bit in surprise but chuckled when he was face to face with a very excited Ohno. 

“Hey,” Ohno whispered. 

“Hi, ready to leave?”

“Yes, sorry, I was meant to wait outside. But Tomoya was a little bit fuzzy.”

“Is he okay? You want to rather stay in?”

“He is asleep now, and mum is there together with dad. They will watch him and probably know better than me what to do if he wakes up,” Ohno said with a frown. “Don’t worry. He’s not ill or something like that.”

“Good then,” Nino said with a frown before he led Ohno to the car. Ohno opened the door for Nino first, who giggled as he slid in behind the wheel and Ohno walked around the car to sit down on the passenger seat. 

Nino lifted an eyebrow as Ohno was settled in. “You need to tell me where to go. I know that goes against your surprise but well a downside to making me the driver.”

Ohno blushed as he watched him from top to bottom or at least as much as he was able to right now. 

“What is it?” Nino asked with a chuckle. 

“Just taking you in. Trying to figure out if anything is different now.”

“It’s not as if I was gone for a while,” Nino chided, but there was laughter in his voice, signalling that he was not mad.

Ohno grinned as he realised that Nino just thought he was silly like he sometimes did whenever he thought Ohno was stupid. “Still. I’m allowed to look, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then this is different from the last few weeks,” Ohno mumbled, reaching out to put a strand of hair behind his hear with a soft smile. 

“You let your hair grow.”

Nino giggled but nodded. “Yeah, neither the time nor the money for a haircut. The stylist will cut my hair when they need to,” he said with a grin. “Still, where shall I go? I don’t suppose your idea of a date was sitting in the car beside each other.”

“No,” Ohno agreed with a sigh. He supposed he would be allowed to look at Nino a bit longer once he was fed. “I reserved a private space in a restaurant. Sho said it’s great.”

“Did he? Then we should go there,” Nino agreed as he finally started the car and brought them to said restaurant. Ohno slid out of the car, opening the door for Nino again.

The waitress at the restaurant brought them to their private room, and Ohno thanked her with a grin as he slid on the space furthest from the door since he knew that Nino preferred the spot closest to the door to have the feeling to get out any time. 

“So what did Sho say was the best thing to get here?” 

“Hamburger cheesesteak,” Ohno said with a chuckle. “Of course, I chose from Sho’s recommendations with you in mind.”

“Sounds great,” Nino said with a smile as the waitress came back to take their orders. Nino sighed when they were alone again and put his chin on his hand. “You are nervous,” he observed with a soft voice. 

“I’m sorry?” Ohno said with a sigh.

“Don’t be. But it makes me nervous as well,” Nino explained with a sigh. “And slightly uncomfortable.”

“I don’t want that. But… I can’t help it. I feel like I need to make sure that this goes right or that I might make you give up on us.”

Nino sighed at the words. He stayed silent until they got their food and then reached over to squeeze his fingers. 

“Oh-chan? It’s not only on you, okay? If this should work, we need to do it together. I know I made you wait long. But I feel ready now, okay? I feel ready now to try out again to make this right.”

“Really?”

“Really, really. I wouldn’t have asked for a date if I wasn’t yet ready. I wouldn’t like to put up hopes in you just to crush them again.”

“It’s not too early then?”

“No, it’s not,” Nino promised. “And well, last week I at least realised that Tomoya seems to like me, which is making me take a more positive look on our future.”

“Tomoya is great,” Ohno agreed with a giggle. “He is the best baby in the world.”

“I feel like a myriad of parents would disagree with you, and I think that Satoru was better even,” Nino teased, laughing when Ohno frowned unhappily for a second. 

“But he is the cutest son you could have,” Nino agreed. “He looks a lot like you, which I enjoy very much,” Nino said before looking back at his food. 

“Let’s eat,” Ohno mumbled. Nino chuckled as he nodded and thanked for the food and groaned happily at the taste. 

“Sho always has the best ideas,” Nino almost moaned. 

Ohno giggled but agreed with a nod. “Better than Jun-kun?”

“A lot. Jun is too much into high-class food right now for me to be able to enjoy. Also, our tastes are so different. Sho always makes sure to take our likes and dislikes into consideration.”

Ohno hummed in agreement before pursing his lips as he finished his food. He looked up, frowning when he saw the sparkle in Nino’s eyes and suddenly felt slightly jealous of Sho, which was so stupid because one thing he was sure about was that Nino and Sho would never work or get together. 

“No more talk about the others or Tomoya,” Ohno decided with a pout. 

“Shall we talk about our mothers then?” Nino asked with a teasing grin. 

“You’re awful,” Ohno whined when Nino hid his face behind his hands laughing at his face. 

Ohno stopped complaining at the sight, his eyes staying on Nino’s beautiful, carefree face right now. If Nino needed to tease him about looking like that, Ohno didn’t have any complaints about that, honestly. 

“What topics are allowed?”

“Any that doesn’t mean you are trying to make me jealous.”

“I would never,” Nino said with a smirk. 

“Oh, you so would. You did last Vs shooting with Jun-kun,” Ohno reminded him with a pout.

Nino giggled as he watched him with sparkling eyes. “We were doing some tests.”

“Tests like what?” Ohno asked with a frown. 

“That’s a secret,” Nino said, still slightly teasing but a bit more serious. 

Ohno sighed softly at that. “You have a lot of secrets as of late,” he complained with a playful pout. Nino smiled and ordered another beer for Ohno, and iced tea for himself was the waitress took their empty dishes. After they had their drinks, he put his hand on top of Ohno’s, who shuddered slightly at the warmth. 

“Payback for the secrets you had.”

“It wasn’t really…” Ohno started but then stopped when Nino’s fingers played with his. Ohno realised that Nino had been just teasing. “Meanie.”

“Cute,” Nino chuckled at his pout. Ohno pouted a bit more, and Nino chuckled as he leant over the table. 

Ohno blinked as the other was suddenly so close and felt his heartbeat speeding up. 

“Nino chuckled, but instead of kissing him, as he usually would, he tweaked his nose. 

Ohno’s lips twitched in amusement and relaxed finally fully. He leant back as Nino did, and even if their hands were still touching each other, they finally were able to talk about what was going on in their lives lately without fearing to do something wrong.

—

It was late into the night when Nino brought the car to a stop in front of his house again. He smiled at Ohno, who looked a bit nervous back now that he was in front of his home. 

“Thank you for the very nice evening, Oh-chan,” Nino whispered and smiled at him. 

“I’m looking forward to more of these.”

“So there is a chance for a second one?” Ohno asked, still feeling slightly overwhelmed at the prospect. 

Nino chuckled as he cupped his cheek and caressed the soft skin under his eyes. “Yes, I would like that very much. Dates together and of course, including your little son. Ohno smiled brilliantly at the words and moved his face to the side to press a kiss to the palm of the other. 

“Thank you,” he whispered and moved back to get off the car. He walked around it to open Nino’s door. Nino chuckled at his antics but followed the soft nudge of Ohno’s fingers on his chin, tilting his face up, before bending and closing his lips over Nino’s smaller ones in a very sweet kiss. 

“A kiss already after the first date?” Nino teased.

“Second. Our dinner was first, and you kissed me then.”

“On the cheek,” Nino hummed in agreement. He smiled into the second kiss chuckling when Ohno finally let him go and took a few steps back.

“Take care on the way home,” Ohno said. “Write me when you arrived.”

“I will. Kiss your boy; he’s missing you for sure.”

Ohno grinned happily as he nodded and watched Nino drive away before turning around to enter his home. He sighed as he leant against the door and closed his eyes. First steps always seemed so awkward, but unique at the same time, he thought with a happy smile. 

A/N: This felt really awkward to write… I hope it’s not awful to read.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey Kazu,**

**Tomoya misses you. He is always saying your name. He is so adorable! And he fell in love with you. I’m sure of it.**

**How are you doing? You are very busy right now. Are you eating regularly?**

**I’m looking forward to our lunch date at the filming site.**

**Love,  
Satoshi & Tomoya**

**—**

**Kazu!  
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate you even more than you can ever think of. **

**Lunch was delicious. Thank you for making it for me. I fed Tomoya some of the pudding you brought, just as you had asked. He liked it.**

**I’m looking forward to you cooking for us both.**

**Sorry if this is too forward.**

**Love,  
Satoshi & Tomoya**

**—**

**Good morning Satoshi,**

**Sorry, that I had to cancel yesterday, but there had been an emergency at the set and Kondo-san couldn’t deny the director. I didn’t want special treatment…**

**I’m tired. But yeah, I’m taking care of myself. I have to be a role model, right?**

**Hug Tomoya tightly, please? I fell for that little boy so much. He is adorable, much like his papa.**

**If you are up to it and don’t mind being at my home, you can come on Sunday? I have a half-day holiday… Or maybe don’t. I will need that time to clean up and do laundry and groceries…**

**Forget that I asked.**

**Kazu.**

—

“Thank you for the groceries,” Nino said as he took the bags from Ohno who shrugged off his shoes and undid the carrier Tomoya was in. 

The boy was wriggling in the cloth, stretching out his arms. 

“Nino,” the boy whined, and Nino chuckled as he put the bags down again before he picked the boy up. 

“Hello, baby boy. I missed you, did you miss me?” he asked in a high pitched voice, chuckling when Tomoya shrieked. 

“I think he did,” Ohno mumbled with a fond smile. He just couldn’t help it. Nino and his son were a sight to behold. “And if buying you groceries meant I was going to see you this week there was no question to do that,” Ohno said as he moved forwards to drop a kiss on his cheek. 

Ohno took the bags to the kitchen to put the groceries away. 

“Please ignore the chaos. I slept in,” Nino shouted, and Ohno could sense that he was blushing badly. 

“It’s fine. You warned me, and still, I decided to come,” Ohno answered back as he put the things into the cupboards and as he went put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher he had once insisted on buying for them. 

“Did your papa bring toys?” Nino asked Tomoya as he carried him into the living room, which was the only place more or less clean since he had started there when Ohno wrote him that he would come over and that he should send him a grocery list with the app they both had still on their phones. 

“They are in the bag. Together with all other things, we’ll need for him.”

“Thank you. What are you doing even?”

“Nothing,” Ohno hummed as he started the eco-friendly programme.

“I didn’t invite you over so that you can do my work,” Nino sighed as Ohno came over and offered him a cup of coffee. 

“Stop it. You are tired and stressed.”

“I de-stress cleaning,” Nino said with a pout while he moved Tomoya’s teddy in front of his face, grinning when the boy giggled and hugged the teddy and his hand. 

“Sure,” Ohno said with a sigh. He knew it was right in a way. But if Nino only had half a day free every two weeks it was not de-stressing but putting on extra stress. 

“Today you have to pay attention to us, nothing else. Did you do laundry?”

Nino shook his head with an unhappy frown at the mention of his laundry. 

Ohno chuckled at that and drank his coffee. “Tomoya how about we both take care of Nino today?” he asked the boy as he tickled his side when Tomoya looked up at him from where he was still very strangely holding his plush toy and Nino at the same time.

“Don’t you dare. You are my guest.”

“I’m also your band member and your… Boyfriend, right?” Ohno said. 

Nino looked up a bit spooked at the uncertain question. They hadn’t talked about their status until now even if they had continued to spend time together the last few weeks in between work and being busy in general. Nino thought about the question, and then he smiled softly. 

He moved upwards to kiss his cheek warmly. “Yup, my loving boyfriend, who I don’t deserve,” he whispered.

“You deserve even more,” Ohno disagreed. He put the cup down bopping Tomoya’s nose before ruffling his hair and standing to head for the bathroom and put the first pile of clothes into the machine and turning it on. 

When he was back, Tomoya was all snuggled up on the floor with Nino reading a picture big to the boy. Tomoya was babbling and repeating some of the words when Nino pointed at the animals and asked him what it was. 

Ohno sat down behind them on the sofa, his legs on either side of Nino’s body and his fingers entangling in Nino’s longer locks. 

“Anything else I can do?” he asked softly, as Nino leant his head against his knee. 

“No, I have a cleaning lady booked for Monday over the agency. Kondo-san had said it would be better with my schedule right now to not worry about that. But they’ll only do the floors and free surfaces.”

“Got it. Then I’ll check on your laundry when this first load is done.”

“Thanks, no, really, thank you.” 

Ohno smiled as he dropped a kiss to his hair as he watched Tomoya who was now tugging at Nino’s arm so that the man would start reading to him again, which he did. Ohno smiled as he played with his Nino’s hair listening to his soothing voice. 

Ohno stood after a while, preparing food for them while Nino lied on the floor, with Tomoya either using him as a climbing frame or pushing toys into his hands to play with him. He was mostly ignoring his father right now, even if he always needed to check if his father was there. 

“Lunch in the kitchen or the living room?” Ohno asked.

“Kitchen,” Nino said as he got up with a groan, picking up a babbling Tomoya, swinging him in his arms as he carried him over. 

“Sorry for not cooking for us,” Nino said as he sat down with Tomoya on his lap.

“That’s fine. I brought food from home. Mum was happy enough to make sure we all are fed. 

“Come here to papa,” Ohno whispered as he picked up the boy. Nino grinned as he thanked for the food and smiled when he saw teriyaki chicken with rice and broccoli. 

“Yummy,” he mumbled as he put a piece of vegetable into his mouth. 

Tomoya was whining and opened his mouth, demanding to be fed, and Ohno made sure that the smaller portion of their lunch was cool enough. He then fed him the first piece. 

“Mum will be happy to hear that,” Ohno said with a smile. 

“He can already eat the same food as us?”

“Yup, a bit less seasoned though. We have to add a bit to our food. But for you she made two batches,” he grinned.

“She really loves me, then,” he grinned.

Ohno rolled his eyes but agreed. His mother loved Nino and was just very happy that they were trying again. 

Tomoya almost fell asleep before he had finished his meal and Nino giggled. 

“He can sleep in the bed. The sheets are fresh, just ignore the chaos.”

“Okay, thanks,” Ohno mumbled as he carried him over and left Nino for a moment to put Tomoya into bed. He closed the shutters so that the room was slightly dark before coming back to finish his food. 

—

Nino cleaned the floor on the living room when Ohno came in and dragged him to the sofa. He put his head on his head and closed his eyes. 

“I’m so relieved,” Nino whispered.

“What about?”

“That Tomoya likes me. You know how scared I was when I first came?” Nino said and looked up. 

“A bit,” Ohno said and hugged him close. “But you didn’t run away.”

“No… I know I let you wait, but…” Nino sighed and closed his eyes. 

“You wanted to make sure that you are open to the idea of taking care of a toddler.”

Nino grinned. “Yes, exactly. He needs stability. Then I was so scared that Tomoya might just cry when we meet. But he didn’t. Instead, he laughed and snuggled to me and trusted me, a complete stranger.”

“He is enamoured with you,” Ohno agreed. 

“And I love this little boy. He’s yours. I feared I would just see the strange woman in him, but he looks very much like you. But I can only see him as your son, nothing else.”

“You lost your heart to him?”

“Yes,” Nino said with a chuckle. “It was very easy to do so, as well.”

“I’m glad,” Ohno whispered, hugging him tightly, as he hid his face in his hair. “So glad.”

There was more emotion in Ohno’s voice than Nino had thought possible at that moment, and he squeezed his fingers. 

“Sorry to make you wait so long,” Nino whispered. 

“Sorry to put so much pain on you,” Ohno said instead. “And we still need to address that.”

Nino grimaced slightly. He didn’t know if he wanted to talk about how the boy came to life at all, but he knew it was something prodding at the back of his mind, and if they wouldn’t make that go away, he would probably never be completely free—neither he nor Ohno. 

“Not today,” he whispered then.

Ohno hummed as he squeezed him tightly. “Not today then. I love you,” he whispered as he pressed his lips against his temple.

“I know,” Nino whispered as he snuggled closer, still not fully ready to say the same words back. But he squeezed his fingers to let Ohno knew he was getting there. 

They spent the rest of the day playing with Tomoya until Ohno went home in the early evening so that Nino could go to bed early.

—

**Satoshi,  
Tell me what happened that evening, or at least how much you remember, please. **

**Yours,  
Kazu.**


	18. Chapter 18

“Thank you for giving me this chance,” Ohno whispered as he kissed Nino’s cheek in greeting. 

Nino smiled shyly at the kiss, his eyes wandering around to make sure there was nobody outside who would have seen them. “Thank you for agreeing to come over.”

“I thought this would be the easiest way. I wouldn’t force you to come over, and we can’t just talk this openly at the agency.”

“True,” Nino sighed and looked around in his little flat. “And a walk outside is also not possible.”

“That would be fun, but no. Too many dangers of people recognising us and I don’t want anybody to hear what I’m going to say.”

“Scared that they judge you?”

“I wouldn’t care less. The only thing I care about is you and how you will feel.

Nino smiled and squeezed his hand as he pulled him further inside. 

They sat on the sofa with Nino fidgeting slightly on his seat until Ohno had settled down and took his hand in his own. He caressed his hand and fingers for a bit and played with them before sighing deeply. 

“Tell me if you need a break.”

“Okay. But just start and tell me already. I’m already nervous as it is.”

Ohno nodded and held the cold hand in between his own to be somehow connected with Nino. He knew this was hard for the younger man. Truthfully it was hard for Ohno as it was and he already had so much time to think about it and dwell on what happened then. 

“First, I want to make sure that I am not putting any fault on others but me. It was my decision to sleep with the woman.”

Nino nodded but still stared at their hands. 

“You told me that you love me and that you knew that I am not gay or would be able to feel anything like love for you. But you wanted to tell me, just to let me know. That all happened over the phone if you remember and then before I could answer you told me that you needed to go now or you would miss your plane.”

Nino blushed slightly as he remembered that. He knew that that had been awful from him. He had told Ohno how he had felt for years by then and how hard it was for him to see him daily without being able to touch him like he wanted or kiss him. Then he had put on Ohno how sorry he was for feeling that way and that he understood if Ohno didn’t want to be close anymore and that he hoped he could forgive him and maybe let him just dream for a while that he had a chance. Then he had ended the call and thrown the phone at his manger, knowing fully well that Ohno could not call him for as long as he was away and that Ohno would not try to write about it over mails. 

Ohno smiled and squeezed his hand in his own. “It’s fine. I’m not mad, I wasn’t mad at all, but I was confused. Indeed, I had never been with any man or boy before, but I found and still find them attractive. About you, I never thought anything like that. But your confession stayed with me. I was confused, overwhelmed and yes, at the start angry with you for putting that all on me and then vanishing somewhere I couldn’t reach you. But that’s no excuse for anything, really. I was stupid. I tried to forget it and think about it when you were back or never going back to it. But I couldn’t. The confession was there, and I started to think about how I felt for you.”

“God, Nino, you have no idea how adorable I always have thought you were. You are bratty, but also so very kind. I love to see you laugh and smile and hate to see you depressed sad or crying. I want you to be happy always. But I thought that I felt that way about the rest, and I do in a way. But not like that. I want to be the one you laugh at, that makes you happy and protects you from being hurt. I just never had thought about it that way, and from then on, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

“It was annoying so one day when it had been especially hard because you were not there, it was the first recording you were not there for and there was a hole that nothing could fill. So I tried filling it another way, a foolish way. I went out drinking. And you know I’m not that good with too much alcohol. I’m even worse when I’m already emotionally unstable. There was a woman, I can’t remember much about her, but she had very distinct moles, that reminded me of you, and small hands and she laughed a bit high-pitched and… God, I was so stupid. I just agreed to go with her to have fun, not thinking about anything and the danger that could bring.”

“So I took her with me, and I slept with her and Tomoya happened. It was once, I felt horrible after waking up, and she wasn’t even there anymore. So I don’t remember a lot about her. What I know for sure, is how horrible I felt the next day. It felt as if I had done something wrong and my mind wandered back to you and how much I hurt you because that was all in my mind as if I had cheated on you, even if factual I wasn’t, emotional it felt like that so that I just wanted to forget it. And over time, when you came back, when I held you and knew for sure I loved you back, that one-night-stand felt like a bad dream, so I never mentioned anything about it. And for that, I’m sorry. I feel as if I should have said something, because everything was up in the air, and yeah.”

Nino was silent, and Ohno observed him, his heart hurt as he saw tears spilling out of his eyes and he let his hand go to take his face in his hands and to rub away the tears with his thumbs. 

“I’m so sorry to hurt you that way.”

Nino shook his head and closed his eyes as he tried to calm down. 

“Thank you for telling me,” he said softly and shuffled a bit closer to lean against him with a soft, tired sigh. “And it’s okay. I understand. I can’t tell you that it doesn’t hurt. It does, knowing that you slept with her, but at the same time I’m a bit happy that because of that you realised your feelings for me.”

“I’m sure I would’ve realised without that.”

“But that would have meant that Tomoya was not born and I wouldn’t want to miss him.”

“Me neither,” Ohno confessed. “But that brings us to another problem.”

Nino frowned and looked up with him. His eyes were still filled with tears, and reddish, and Ohno smiled softly as he kissed the reddish nose. 

“What?”

“Did you ever wonder why he appeared on your doorstep? When at that time I didn’t live with you?”

Nino frowned at the question and pursed his lips as he shook his head carefully. He had never thought about it, which was stupid; he realised slowly. Nobody should’ve known to find Ohno here. 

“Yes, it’s worrisome, and as soon as I’ve realised that something is not right, I talked with Takahashi-san. He put someone on it. Tomoya’s mother had known who I am - no surprise here, honestly. To my surprise, she never seemed to have tried to contact me for money or anything, but she apparently put someone to track me. I don’t know what she found and how much she knows I’m with you or that this is your apartment. But she knew where to find me and put the boy here.”

Nino nodded and groaned as he pushed his face against his shoulder. “I have already decided to move anyway. Even if I hadn’t thought about that. Too many bad memories now,” he mumbled. “But now I should probably move the importance forward, and explain Kondo-san what’s going on.”

“I’m sorry for this extra stress,” Ohno said with a sigh. Nino shook his head and hugged him tightly. “No, I… I’m fine. I’m sure she hasn’t been around here since she left Tomoya on the doorstep. Still, just thinking about a stranger knowing where I live is scary.”

“I understand that. I didn’t feel good about you living here since I’ve known about it. But I didn’t want to scare you.”

“I know. God my head is swimming,” Nino groaned. “It was a bit much now.”

“True,” Ohno sighed. Their lives also hadn’t calmed down, so he felt even worse for putting that all on Nino but, honestly, there was no good time for all this after all. “Come on time for you to take a nap,” he decided then though and picked the other man up. 

“You know what a real relief is?”

“What is?”

“That Tomoya was no preemie and that she didn’t know where to find you because you didn’t take her here and slept on our bed together.”

“It doesn’t matter how drunk I’m ever going to be, Kazu. I never could actually sleep with anybody else when I have you. I already have the perfect person in my arms, how and why should I put that in danger and cheat with a second-best?”

Nino blushed as he hid his face and hugged him more tightly. “Sap,” he mumbled, grabbing his wrist when Ohno put him to the bed. “Stay?”

“With pleasure,” Ohno whispered with a smile as he kissed him again. Nino sighed and rolled up beside him. Ohno watched him softly as he played with his hair until he fell asleep. He could imagine how little rest Nino had had since he had asked him for the truth.


	19. Chapter 19

Ohno looked down at Nino and played with his hair as the other man finally fell to sleep against him. He sighed and kissed his forehead softly. He had been scared about how Nino would react to his tale, and he was very relieved that nothing terrible had happened. It was a surprise how calm Nino was, and it made his heart sing. 

It showed how far they had come since that morning and Ohno for one was sure that after this all they would come out more durable and more secure in their relationship. Something that maybe was even helpful when there were problems in their future. And Ohno was sure that there would be. 

He sighed and dropped another kiss to his cheek before carefully untangling from the other. He was not tired, still too high strung from all that had happened, and he feared that he would start to fidget and wake up Nino who very clearly needed the sleep. 

Ohno looked around the small flat, checking if there was anything that he could do, but realised that even if Nino was still busy, it wasn’t as bad as it had been since Nino could tidy up in the evenings. 

He fell to the sofa, for a short moment musing if he should cook something but then decided to order something for later when Nino woke up and instead started to read the script for his drama. There were still things to talk about, and Ohno was silently thanking his mother again, who had promised to look after Tomoya for as long as they needed even if that meant that Ohno came home the next day. 

A small frown was on his face at that thought. It was just too strange not to be the person to put Tomoya to bed in the evening or hug the crying boy if he woke up in the middle of the night. Ohno really didn’t know how he would be able to handle that when they were back on tour and stayed out of Tokyo for a few nights. 

—

“If you continue to look like that your face will be stuck, and then I honestly need to contemplate if I want to stay with you,” Nino’s voice suddenly said, and he blinked. 

Nino looked much more relaxed now, and his face seemed very content, and in that oversized sweater, he just shouted homely. 

“Come here,” Ohno whispered, opening his arms for Nino to slip into his embrace snuggling up to him. Nino chuckled but rubbed his cheek against his shoulder. 

“Thank you for letting me sleep,” he said, nuzzling his warm skin. 

“You looked like you needed it. How are you feeling now?”

“Like a new human being, honestly. Many fears are now gone.”

“That’s good,” Ohno said with a chuckle, putting his script to the side. “I was thinking about ordering takeout, from that place I really love and that don’t deliver to my family house.”

“Not that your mother would allow that,” Nino said with a giggle. “But it sounds good. You know what I like from there, right?”

“Of course,” Ohno mumbled. He probably knew from any place they ever had been what Nino liked or hated or only wanted on special occasions. 

“Good,” Nino said, putting his head back on his shoulder. He felt too comfortable to move fully. “The script. Do you need to read it now?”

“No, just something to pass the time.”

Nino giggled and pressed small kisses to the soft skin. Ohno chuckled and played with his strands of hair. It was terrific how loving the other was. 

“You know, we still have some things we need to talk about.”

“I know. Can we do that over dinner, though? And just cuddle a bit.”

“Of course, you have the cuddle bug today?”

“Mhm… Has been too long. The rest is not as comfortable as you,” he mumbled.

Ohno snorted. “You are the only one allowed to snuggle up to all of the guys, and they would just hug you.”

“Because I’m huggable,” Nino said with a cheeky grin. 

Ohno nodded since there was no reason to turn Nino down. He was very squish-able. Nino tilted up his chin to kiss his lips.

“I love you so much, Kazu.”

Nino smiled shyly and hid his face a bit. “Me too,” he whispered, and Ohno hugged him a bit tighter, his heart swooning at the words. 

They stayed in silence for a while longer, before Ohno sighed and rubbed the small of Nino’s back. “As much as I love hugging you. I’m getting hungry. And we skipped lunch.”

“Yeah, true,” Nino said with a sigh as he slipped from Ohno so that he could call the restaurant and order their food. He stretched out on the sofa, still feeling very lazy and just comfortable, which was so strange considering that he almost had felt like a stranger in his own home. But with Ohno, it was different.

“How is Tomoya?”

“He is great. A healthy little happy boy. It is great to see.”

“Is he missing his papa?”

Ohno pursed his lips as he thought that question over. “I don’t think so. But I also don’t want to think about it. It would be too sad if he were miserable, right?”

“I think he will be very well taken cared off by your family.”

“Still…” Ohno sighed and shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t want to make this sad.”

“No, it’s not. I can understand. You should call your little boy. It’s almost time for bed, right?”

“Right,” Ohno said, scooping low to kiss his adorable boyfriend. He was just delighted that Nino was so understanding. 

He pulled out his phone, sitting beside Nino who leant against him and grinned when Ohno made a video call. “Hello Ohno-san,” Nino greeted at the woman, who smiled and greeted him with a grin. 

“How is Tomoya?” Ohno asked, and soon the phone was moved, and they were allowed to see Tomoya. Ohno waved at the boy as he cried out a papa.

They talked a bit over the phone, Ohno making kissy faces at the boy until Ohno’s mother picked the boy up and waved his hand. “Say good-night to your papa, Tomo-chan.”

“Night, papa.”

“Good night, my baby boy. I’ll be there in the morning, okay? Sweet dreams and listen to momma.”

Tomoya nodded giggling and waving at Nino. “Night, Nino.”

“Good night, baby boy and sweet dreams.”

They ended the call, and Nino giggled when Ohno sighed deeply. “You are adorable,” he said and kissed the side of his mouth when the doorbell rang. “Will you pay?”

“Yup,” Ohno agreed and went to the door to get their food. Nino brought beer, and they settled around the table. 

“You do know that I will keep you overnight, right?” Nino made sure as he sat. 

“I thought so. That’s why I told them I’d be home tomorrow. And oh, did I mention I managed to get my license?”

“Oh! Congratulations,” Nino said giggling, kissing him again, before finally starting his meal. 

“Will you help me find a perfect car?”

“Yup, I’ll make sure you get a great deal. So talking?”

“Yes, we need to talk about what we will do from now on, right? I know it might be fast but…”

“But it makes sense. If I look for a new apartment, it should fit my future life. I don’t like moving, and it would be stupid not to talk about us.” Nino agreed as he put a piece of chicken into his mouth. “Have you thought about moving?”

“Yes, of course. I don’t want to stay at my mother’s home forever.”

“That coming from you,” Nino teased good naturally. 

“But it’s not too easy. I will need to make sure Tomoya is taken care of. A live-in nanny or something. It would be stupid to move out and then have to call my mother over each day.”

“True. But if we move in together, it will mean a bit more time that at least one of us is home.”

Ohno nodded with a smile. “Kazu, let me be honest?”

“Of course, always.”

“I fear to pressure you into something you are not ready yet. I mean, I lived here with you, but we didn’t move in together officially even then. But I would really love for us to live together in the new apartment. But if we do so, we would need to find one big enough for me, you, Tomoya and help, which I also worry about because I know how uncomfortable you are with strangers.”

Nino smiled as he climbed on his lap carefully as to not stop him from eating. Ohno clicked his tongue and held a bite to his lips. “Eat.”

“Worrywart,” Nino said but opened his lips to be fed. “You do realise that I was ready for you to move in before all this happened?”

“Yes,” Ohno said with a sigh.

“So let me ask you this: Are you trying to talk me into looking up an apartment for us all or out of it?”

“I don’t know,” Ohno said truthfully.

Nino chuckled and kissed his lips. “We’ll both talk with Kondo and Takahashi and tell them what we want. And for us to do that I demand of you to draw a picture for our dream apartment,” he giggled. 

“Sounds like a plan, but now you need to finish your food.”

“Only if I get a treat after,” Nino said. 

“I see how I will have to make sure both of you eat, huh?”

“And you are so good at feeding people,” he mumbled.

“Brat,” Ohno said with a fond smile. 

“But you love me,” Nino teased.

“That I do.” Ohno giggled and pulled over Nino’s plate so that they could eat while all snuggled up.


	20. Chapter 20

“Still hungry?” Ohno asked when they finished the food he had ordered. 

Nino shook his head in answer and rubbed his nose against the shirt of the other. “You smell good,” he mumbled. Ohno chuckled softly and hugged him closer, pulling him on top of his lap. Nino hid his smile against the skin of Ohno’s neck and started to nibble on the sweet-tasting skin. 

He felt his heartbeat faster as he licked at the hollow at his neck and closed his eyes with a deep sigh. It was so easy to fall into their usual pattern, but at the same time, everything was different. 

“Tickles,” Ohno whispered, and Nino looked up with a slight blush on his face. 

“Sorry, I’ll stop?” he mumbled, but it was more of a question than a sentence. 

Ohno stared down on him and then lifted his face with his fingers under his chin. Ohno stared into his eyes for a moment, getting slightly cross-eyed as he stared into his eyes. 

Nino bit his lower lip, still staring into Ohno’s eyes a bit unsure about what the other was expecting now. 

Then though he giggled as he saw the expression on Ohno’s face and moved closer to the other to close his lips over the other’s. 

For a moment, Ohno stiffened under him in surprise, but then his hands tightened on his hips and Ohno tilted his head to deepen the kiss. He nibbled at Nino’s lips which opened them to allow Ohno’s tongue to slip in. 

A small moan escaped Nino at the first taste of Ohno against his tongue and started to tug Ohno closer, even closer. When his back connected with the table, they were still at he broke the kiss with a small hiss. 

“You okay?” Ohno asked, rubbing the spot he had just hit, and Nino frowned before nodding. Ohno leant down again to kiss him and swore when he hit the beer can on the table, toppling it over at the same time. Nino shrieked when the liquid ran down his arm and the back. He grimaced, moving away and hitting Ohno’s chin with his head. 

Ohno stared down at him as Nino groaned and rubbed his head. “Sorry…”

Ohno’s lips twitched slightly as Nino frowned and bit his lips, before chuckling. 

“Change of places?”

“Yes, please,” Nino groaned. 

“Bed?”

“Shower. I have beer on my back.”

“I could lick it off?” Ohno offered with sparkling eyes. 

Nino stared up at him with a half-opened mouth for a second and then nodded almost shyly as he hid his face against Ohno’s neck. That sounded actually really nice. 

Ohno giggled as he picked him up to carry him finally to the bedroom. Nino’s legs closed around his waist, his arms around his shoulders, as Ohno navigated that well-known flat and peppered kisses on his shoulder, one hand under his butt while the other snacked under his shirt lifting the soaked garment off the skin from Nino who shuddered slightly at the feeling. 

Ohno smirked slightly at the shudder that went through the body of the other man as he put him down on the bed. Nino whined when Ohno stepped back and broke their kiss that way. He smiled and traced his cheeks and red lips with his fingertips. Then he took the shirt into his fingers to rolled it up to take off the dirtied shirt of Nino, making sure to wipe the wet spot on his skin as he went. His eyes lingered on Nino’s form. His lips were reddened from their kisses, and his hair was standing up in all directions from where his shirt had come up. There was a flush in the usually pale cheeks of the other that went all the way down until his chest. 

His fingernails traced over the inside of his arm and elbow enjoying the goosebumps he left in his trail. “Cute,” he whispered as he dropped kisses on his cheek, the tip of his nose, just to end up on his lips again. Nino chuckled against his lips, tugging him closer to himself until Ohno managed to kneel on the bed above him, shoving Nino down on his back as he went. 

“Satoshi,” Nino groaned as hot lips wandered over his chest. Ohno licked at his nipples, feeling them hardening under his touch. A small grin appeared on his face at the soft noises the other made under him. His hands wandered over his upper body, caressing all the spots he knew from experience that made Nino shiver. 

Nino’s fingers tightened on his shirt as he buckled his hips upwards, tugging at Ohno’s head when the other bit one of the hardened nubs under his lips. Ohno went without much complaint, and Nino closed his lips over Ohno’s in a deep kiss as he used the moment of distraction to turn them both around so that he could sit on top of him.

Ohno’s eyes twinkled as he looked up with him, a chuckle lost in his throat when Nino leant down to kiss his Adam’s apple. 

“You are wearing too many clothes,” Nino whispered against the skin, punctuating each word with a small nibbled kiss around his throat and collar line before his fingers wandered under the shirt Ohno was wearing to push it up. He moved downward to place his lips on the waistline of the other, using the lines of his hipbones as a map to trace kisses on the sweaty skin. 

Ohno’s eyes fell close as he felt the short press of lips against his skin, the tongue in his belly button as Nino moved upwards, his knees finding a way in between his legs to press against the bulge. He still couldn’t believe that this was happening. Ohno didn’t know how often he had dreamt about being able to feel Nino against himself again while at the same time not believing that possible. 

“Kazu,” he whispered as Nino’s lips found his chest while the shirt wasn’t able to go much higher. Nino looked up questioningly, smiling when Ohno’s eyes met his. Ohno sat up, Nino on his lap to get rid of his shirt and found his lips again for a deep kiss. 

“I love you,” Ohno whispered against them, making a shiver break out over Nino’s whole body. 

“Me too,” he answered back, sighing in happiness when Ohno sealed their lips again. They moved in sync on the bed, Ohno soon enough on top of him again, both with much fewer clothes and much more heat in between them. 

—

Nino was curled up on top of Ohno, his lips ghosting over the warm skin of the other with a sleepy smile on his face. 

Ohno smiled and kissed his forehead, lovingly. “Tired?”

“Uhn,” Nino nodded as he snuggled up even more when Ohno’s fingers traced his shoulders down the side of his body in slow almost not there strokes. He sighed and felt his whole body relax. He was still brimming with the last of the orgasm he had earlier and basking in the warmth that was just Ohno. 

He rubbed his nose against his chest, his eyes falling slowly close. “Are you going to fall asleep on top of me?” Ohno asked, amusement clear in his voice.

“No… Maybe,” Nino mumbled and kissed his chest again. “I feel comfortable. I like having you in bed with me.”

“I like being in bed with you.”

“Oh-chan?”

“Mhm?”

“I really want to move in with you and Tomoya,” he whispered.

“And a puppy and a kitten?”

Nino giggled and nodded slightly. “Mhm… I told my mum I would live like that when I’m big. I had a crush on my father, I believe,” he said with a sigh. No, that wasn’t exactly true. But somehow… In his mind, he had been the wife. It had been all he had known when he had been small. 

“Will I be a good dad for Tomoya?”

“The best.”

Nino snorted slightly as he hummed in thought. That would be nice, probably. “Never will happen. We all know you already take that spot.”

“Tomoya can have two best dads in the world.”

Nino giggled, his fingers tracing circles around Ohno’s belly button. “Stupid,” he said around a yawn, closing his eyes. “Sap, I’ll stop listening to you,” he mumbled and snuggled closer to Ohno and under the blanket he had pulled over them. 

Ohno chuckled as he buried his nose in his hair. His fingers massaged the small of Nino’s back softly, and he smiled when he felt Nino going slack in his arms. 

“Kazu?” he tried, smiling when he didn’t get an answer and dropped another kiss to his forehead. He felt Nino’s fingers twitch against his waist but decided not to call him out on his faked sleep. 

“Thank you,” Ohno whispered against his hair, closing his eyes. “For giving me this chance. I know how hard it was for you.”

He traced lazy patterns on his back as he looked down on Nino. He smirked when he saw the dark red tips of his ears. 

“And I just know that you will be a great father, because Kazu, you are already perfect. I know you are scared. I’m scared, and it’s totally normal to feel that way. But the way you already take care of him shows that you love him and only want the best for him. And that is all that really matters,” he sighed, tightening his grip around Nino for a second. 

“And if I have to, I will fight everybody who dares to tell you otherwise, who will hurt you or Tomoya.”

He sighed and kissed his temple as he closed his eyes. His finger wandered over his shoulders just slightly tickling his shoulder blade just to see the other twitch somewhat while he tried to feign sleep. 

“And I want to create the perfect space for us to live in, because I really, really want to move in with you. I’m just scared to scare you away, but again, you are always stronger than anyone thinks, including yourself. That’s why I couldn’t do anything else but fall in love with you and fight for you.”

Ohno sighed as he felt moistness on his skin and played with his hair. “I love you so much so that you know.” He moved slightly and hugged him closer as he kissed his forehead and settled down with him in his arms. 

“Goodnight, my love.” 

A/N: I wanted to write a full-fledged sex scene but couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Sorry.


	21. Chapter 21

Nino woke early in the morning, feeling much more rested than he had for a few days now. A small smile appeared on his face as he realised that his cushion was still Ohno’s very comfortable chest. He rubbed his nose against the collarbone, before sighing and getting up. He frowned down on his body, grimacing softly at the dried cum on his stomach and decided that a shower was needed. 

He checked the time, realising that there was still enough for him to shower, then rise Ohno and call Kondo to talk to her about a change of housing, even if that meant that he would have to pay a fine for cancelling his contract on this apartment early. His eyes wandered to Ohno again, before he forced himself to leave after dropping another kiss to his temple. 

Shower then coffee and then waking up Ohno, he decided as he entered the bathroom. He showered fast, before brushing his teeth and then went to the kitchen to start his coffee machine to prepare two cups of coffee. He checked his fridge, grinning when he realised he had the cream that Ohno preferred in the morning beside his milk and some brown sugar. He prepared Ohno’s coffee as he knew Ohno loved before taking it with him to the bedroom. 

Ohno was still asleep on the side that had become Ohno’s over the time he had slept over so often and climbed on the other side. He poked Ohno’s cheek softly and grinned when Ohno grumbled. 

“Wakey-wakey,” he said in a teasing manner. 

“Tomo is still sleeping. I can sleep as long,” he grumbled. 

“I would agree if Tomoya were actually here,” Nino said flatly, feeling bad almost immediately when Ohno’s eyes shot open, and he was up just a second after. 

“What? Where is he?!”

“Oh-chan, I’m sorry,” he said, tugging his wrist to get his attention. 

Ohno turned around, staring at him with wide eyes for just the fraction of a minute until he remembered where he was and what they had done the night before and that Tomoya was safe and sound at his parent’s home. 

He sighed and then sat down beside him again. “Sorry, that must have been strange for you.”

“No, it was cute,” Nino said and offered him the coffee. “And sorry for scaring you.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, don’t start to think that, okay?”

“I don’t,” Nino said with a small honest smile. “I should’ve remembered that this is the first night without Tomoya though.”

Ohno shrugged and kissed his cheek before sipping his coffee. “Mhm… perfect,” he praised. “You always make it the best.”

“Flatterer,” Nino said with a giggle as he leant against Ohno. 

“We are good?” Ohno asked in a small voice, and Nino nodded. 

“We are still good. Do you mind talking about the apartment?”

“No?” Ohno said with a small frown on his face. “What about it?”

“I want to call Kondo-san today before I have to go to drama filming. And that means I should know what I’m dealing with.”

“You do know that it’s still somehow a secret that we are a couple, right?” Ohno reminded Nino, and Nino scrunched up his nose. 

“Right. But Kondo-san knows.”

Ohno nodded softly and smiled. It was hard to hide their relationships in front of their managers if they dated women outside of the agency, dating another band member, it was impossible.

Ohno finished his coffee and then put an arm around him to hug him close and press his forehead against his shoulder. Nino observed him for a moment and then played with his hair. 

“What is wrong, tell me.”

Ohno mumbled something against the skin and Nino chuckled as he pinched his arm where it laid across his stomach. 

“I can’t understand you.”

“Can’t we make it official? I mean… not now. I know it’s still too early for us to do that. Mostly because this is just a start. But… I really want to tell the world I’m with the perfect person for me in my life and that we are a happy small family.”

Nino watched him for a while before he chuckled. “Okay… But first, let’s find somewhere to live? Give it… I don’t know... two months?”

Ohno blinked. Two months were less than he had thought possible, but he nodded and hugged him for a moment longer, Nino stroking his naked arms. 

“You should go take a shower, okay? I want to bring you to your little boy before I have to go to work.”

“Sounds good. You need to say hello, too, okay?”

“If there is time. Think about the apartment while you shower, okay?”

“Will do. But I think there is nothing special that I need or want. Anything you chose should be perfect, but…” Ohno added when Nino frowned at him and started to argue. “…but I know that you want to know my wishes because it’s supposed to be our home. So I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you,” Nino mumbled when Ohno kissed his brow before leaving him alone to get fully dressed and collect the things he needed for work. 

—

“Did you have breakfast?” Ohno asked as he slipped on his shirt and rechecked his bag to make sure he wouldn’t leave anything important at Nino’s flat.

“No,” Nino said with a frown. “I had coffee.”

“That won’t do,” Ohno said as he clicked his tongue and took out his phone to write a short message to his mother to tell her that they would come in a bit and that Nino hadn’t had breakfast but needed to go to work soon. Ohno didn’t rely on his mother to cook for him usually, but today would be an exception. 

Nino rolled his eyes as he watched him and then led him to his car. On their way to Ohno’s home, Nino called his manager and slowly recounted to her, what he had in mind for the future. With Ohno’s input, Nino was able to tell her how many rooms his new flat would need to have and what kind of security he wanted. He would need it to be higher than in the apartment complex where he lived now. That also meant though that people would get to know he lived with Ohno. 

He looked at Ohno, who stared out on the street and sighed softly. Two months. If they were still going strong and secure then, he would take the next step, he told himself. It should be enough then. They had already been together for close to a year before this happened and - at least Nino hoped so - getting back together, working through their problems should soon show if they really were good together or not. 

—

“So do you still have time?” Ohno asked as they stopped in front of Ohno’s family home. Nino frowned and checked the time before he nodded with a grin. 

“Yup. I only have to be there in an hour. I honestly thought it would take us longer to leave my home,” he said with a chuckle. 

Ohno pursed his lips in a pout, but when Nino moved forward to close his mouth of his, he couldn’t help the sigh before his fingers closed around Nino’s neck to deepen the kiss for a second before they separated after a few minutes. He smiled and stroke his cheek. 

“Tomoya will be delighted then. And my mom as well. I’m sure she prepared an excellent breakfast for us.”

“Mhm… That sounds actually pretty good,” Nino said with a grin. “Nobody makes such great breakfast than mothers.”

Ohno grinned but nodded as they finally left the car. He entered the house, with Nino in tow, calling out that they have arrived. He fell to his knees when Tomoya waddled into the hallway, shouting happily that his papa was finally home. 

“Hey, baby boy. I’m home. Were you good to your momma?” he asked, listening to the babbling for a moment as he hugged him. He picked him up and then turned to Nino so that Tomoya could see him. “I brought a guest.”

“Nino!” Tomoya cried out happily, clapping his hands. “Welcome!”

“Hello there, Tomoya,” Nino said, taking his flailing hands in his own and moving them up and down. 

“Hello, hello,” Tomoya parroted and whined only a bit when Ohno carried him further inside. He calmed down when he realised that Nino was following them and they entered the kitchen. 

“Thank you for having me over,” Nino said with a smile when he saw Ohno’s mother who shook her head. 

“I like feeding my children. And of course, you belong there as well.”

Nino smiled a bit bashfully at the words and ducked his head in embarrassment, but he was happy for those words, so he didn’t try to argue. He knew his mother was similar with Ohno around, and probably with Tomoya, which reminded him…

“You do realise that my mom would want to meet Tomoya?” he said as he sat beside Ohno who had started to help Tomoya with his food. 

“Mh?”

“My mother would be all over him,” Nino whined, hiding his face. “She loves babies. Oh God, it will be super embarrassing.”

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Ohno said with a smile, handing Tomoya some vegetables after he had finished his porridge for breakfast. Now he could concentrate again on his food and thanked his mother again for the very delicious breakfast that Nino had already halfway finished. 

“We should do a family reunion with everybody,” Ohno’s mother said suddenly, and Nino paled slightly. 

“That is something that needs to be planned before even considering it,” Ohno said, taking Nino’s hand in his own and squeezing it. It wasn’t that Nino didn’t like their families, but he knew that it would be too many people together for him to be that comfortable while being stressed with work.

“Of course. You boys will need a vacation first. You are way too stressed,” she muttered, walking around them, putting another serving of miso soup in front of Nino. 

“That will be hard this year,” Nino said with a shrug. “But we are used to it.”

She clicked her tongue but knew that any words would fall to deaf ears, so she stopped. 

“Nino decided to get a bigger apartment for the three of us,” Ohno declared then and stood to get a second serving and another coffee for Nino as he sat down again, after putting Tomoya to the floor who walked over to his toys at a corner of the kitchen and played with them. 

“That sounds great. Isn’t it too soon, though?” she asked worriedly. 

Nino shook his head slowly. “I need a change, and it would be stupid to rent a small space for a short time.”

“True.”

Nino looked at the clock and then got to his feet. He kissed the cheek of Ohno and ruffled Tomoya’s hair. “I have to go to work now, Tomoya. So tell me, goodbye?”

“Bye, Nino,” Tomoya said and stood to press very wet lips against his cheek. Nino chuckled and rubbed his cheeks with his thumbs. 

“Bye, Tomoya. We’ll see each other soon.”

“I’ll walk you to the door,” Ohno mumbled as he got to his feet. They walked to the front door. He watched Nino wear his shoes, then tugged him close again to kiss him deeply. “Take care.”

“Yup, I can do that.” Nino grinned as he finally left and made his way to work, feeling much lighter and happier as he ignored the curious looks of Kondo and the co-actors.


	22. Chapter 22

“Thank you, Ninomiya-san. The take was good,” one of the technicians said, and Nino grinned as he gave a thumbs up and put off his headphones before leaving the small soundproof cabin. He rolled his shoulders as he walked to their Green Room, where half of Arashi was situated. 

Jun was staring at papers for their next part of their tour and Sho was writing the last pieces of his raps at the table. Aiba was at a TV station recording for Tensai if Nino was right and Ohno was not yet there. He rubbed his hair, as he sauntered over to Jun when the other waved him over to ask him something about a song order and frowned, before answering. 

Nino then proceeded to pack his bag, making sure that everything was inside and stretched his arms over his head. 

“Are you guys up for a celebration meal?”

“What celebration?” Nino asked with a frown, and Sho rolled his eyes. 

“I know that the time is flowing without us following it, but it’s our tenth anniversary.”

“Ah,” Nino mumbled with a frown. “Should be okay. But Oh-chan will need to ask his mother if she can babysit,” he explained.

“Okay. Shall I send you or Ohno the possible free nights?” Sho asked with a smirk, and Nino rolled his eyes. “How about you send it to Ohno-san right away?” he asked sarcastically.

“Eh?!”

“How about you talk with Oh-chan about it?” Nino asked with a sigh. 

The door opened to the said man with Tomoya in a carrier and Nino grinned as he skipped over to kiss his cheek. “Hey, how was the morning?” he asked and tickled Tomoya’s cheek that could be seen under the cloth. 

“Busy. Tomo-chan is a bit ill today. Are you sure you can look after him?” Ohno asked with a worried voice, and Nino smiled as he nodded and caressed the soft hair of the baby boy when Tomoya blinked up to him with bleary eyes. 

“Yup, no worries. You come over when you have finished here, and I’ll take care of this little mister then. Just make sure you bring dinner, if he is fussy I won’t be able to cook,” he mumbled, helping Ohno to open the sling and put it around himself with a small huff at the complicated knot. 

He ignored the coos of the rest of the members and glared when he heard the tone of a photo being taken. Jun grinned at them innocently. “If you ever come out into the open with it all it will make great material for our picture collages,” he said. 

Ohno huffed a burst of laughter and kissed Nino’s forehead, who rocked Tomoya until the boy calmed down again. 

“See you later.”

“Yup,” Nino agreed, putting his arm under the sling, still not used to the weight against himself and the secureness that it wouldn’t slip and Tomoya would fall. He shouldered his bag, as Kondo-san appeared in the door with a smile. 

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, thanks for driving,” he said, and she shrugged. It was her job after all, but Nino was still thankful for her always being there for them. 

—

“Do you need help to get everything to your apartment?” Kondo asked as Nino climbed out of the car with Tomoya still nestled into his sling against his body, his bag and the baby bag that Ohno had prepared for him. He frowned at the things he had to carry but shook his head. Over the last two weeks, he had a few things for babies already in his home, so this was only a few necessities that he didn’t have. 

“No, it’s not heavy. Just a bit of a handful.”

“Good then. I’ll fetch you tomorrow around noon.”

“Huh?” Nino asked, tilting his head to the side. 

Kondo laughed softly and shook her head. “I mentioned that I found an apartment that would fit your wishes, right?”

“Oh, yes. God, sorry Kondo-san, I blanked out,” he mumbled. Kondo had tried her best to get a visiting pass for him and Ohno together on one of the few days they were both free, after all. “I make sure we are ready by then.”

“Good,” she said with a grin and waved at them before driving home to her own family or wherever she went after her work for the day was done, Nino thought with a small grimace. 

He stared down at Tomoya who was whining lowly moving around in the sling and finally entered his apartment complex and was happy when he found that the lift had been repaired throughout the morning. 

— 

It was later than Ohno would have liked when he finally entered the apartment of his lover, his heart still skipping slightly when he thought about Nino as his lover again. Work had been stressful since Takahashi often made sure to put most things one after the other right now so that he had as much free time as possible. That meant that he had little rest time in between different jobs but therefore more often half a day or a full day off, which Ohno honestly preferred since it meant that he could be home a lot. 

Ohno was sure that it would change when he and Nino lived together since Nino would share the parental duties with him. The thought made Ohno feel all warm inside, and he couldn’t fight off the smile. 

With Nino in the equation, he would feel more comfortable to leave Tomoya with him than using his family as babysitters. He knew they didn’t mind so much, but it was somehow two different things in his mind. 

He stepped out of his shoes and brought the takeaway meals that he had bought earlier to the kitchen. He pulled out plates and then frowned as he realised that it was almost silent in the flat but a soft humming. He hadn’t even realised that he had walked through the living room without being greeted by Nino or Tomoya. He walked through the living room again to open the bedroom shortly after. 

The humming got louder, and he smiled when he saw Nino and Tomoya lying on the bed.

Nino’s hand was tapping the stomach of the baby boy and caressed it now and then with his fingertips. At the same time, he held a phone in his hand, playing a game, and singing the lullaby softly under his breath, checking now and then on Tomoya to make sure that he was okay and if he had fallen to sleep just yet. 

Ohno stood back as he could see from the way Tomoya was sucking at his fingers, and his eyes already half-closed that he was close to falling asleep. Now and then he would wriggle, which brought Nino’s eyes on him and fight his eyes open before yawning big again and losing the fight against his sleepiness. Ohno grinned at the cute sight and slowly went back to prepare their dinner, putting the food on plates and making sure it was still warm, before pulling out two beers to go along with their dinner. 

Soon enough steps came closer and hands winded around Ohno’s waist, as Nino pressed his head against his back. 

“Welcome home.”

“I’m back.”

“Good work,” Nino said with a smile when Ohno turned around to peck his nose. 

“Good work.” 

A bright smile was on Nino’s face as he kissed his lips and then sighed. “I’m hungry.”

“Good for you then that I bought stir-fry,” Ohno said with a giggle at the happy look of the other. 

“Sounds good. Tomoya runs a slight fever,” he said then with a sigh as they got comfortable in the living room. “I checked with mum, she said as long as it’s not too high it’s fine, but to keep an eye on him.”

“Mhm… Mum said the same when he woke up with that stuffed nose. She said it’s normal for children his age to get ill and that I should probably prepare myself to have many sleepless nights when it gets even colder.”

“Building up an immune system sucks,” Nino hummed with a pout. 

Ohno’s lips twitched, and he nodded. “Yup. It’ll get worse when he enters daycare.”

“We should cancel that then,” Nino mumbled. 

Ohno looked at him for a moment, before bursting out in laughter. “I think it’ll have his merits though,” he giggled as he moved forward to kiss him. “God, you are adorable.”

“Am not.”

“Are too, now eat.”

“Yes, sir,” Nino grinned before starting his meal. 

“Oh, Kondo-san will come and get us tomorrow around noon.”

“What for?”

“Apartment viewings. She messaged me earlier, it’ll be three, and I hope we’ll find one that we like.”

“Me too. What about Tomoya?”

“He’ll come with us. He is sleepy most of the time, so it’ll be fine. He is a very easy patient.”

Ohno chuckled but nodded as it was true. Tomoya mostly slept and whined now and then when he was hungry or felt uncomfortable but a few minutes of singing usually helped so that he fell back to sleep or some food was all it took for him to calm down. At least as long as he was close to another body. 

“Did he cry bloody murder when you wanted to put him down?”

Nino shot him a look as he nibbled on the edamame which came with their meal. “You could’ve warned me, you know?”

Ohno chuckled and shrugged. “I forgot. I wore the sling because he was huffy all morning when I didn’t carry him around. That way, I could at least use my hands. But he was so adorable and calm when we met.”

“Yeah, he was sleeping,” Nino reminded him. 

Ohno blushed slightly, and Nino chuckled, as he kissed him again, couldn’t help himself at the adorable red cheeks. 

“Finish your food, old man, and then we should try to sleep early tonight. Who knows how many hours of sleep we get with Tomoya being ill. 

— 

Nino groaned when he opened his eyes and rubbed his face as Tomoya between them, cried again. He looked at the clock and sighed. He was sure that with all the disturbances tonight there hadn’t been more than five hours of restful sleep, but he knew that it couldn’t be helped.

He caressed the puffy cheeks as he picked Tomoya up, rocking him from side to side and climbing out of bed. Ohno looked up at him, and Nino motioned for him to stay in bed. Ohno had been up half of the night to let Nino sleep as much as he could, and even if that hadn’t worked, it was a sweet thing to do. 

“Stay, I got him,” he whispered and kissed his temple. 

Ohno wanted to argue, but he was still too exhausted for his brain to work correctly and fell back to sleep before he could make up his mind. Nino giggled and brought Tomoya out of the room, who had calmed a bit at least when he had been picked up, and Nino waved a rattle in front of his face, watching the boy sucking at his fingers.

“Hungry, baby boy?”

“Hun, hun,” Tomoya whimpered and made smacking noises. He sniffled slightly, and Nino hummed softly as he walked to the kitchen to warm up the prepared porridge. It was easier than cooking it from scratch, and Nino was way too tired even to try to make it any other way right now. 

Soon enough, the food was warm, and he opened the small glass jar to let it cool just a bit, while he pulled his mug from under his coffee machine. He placed Tomoya on his lap, dragging the bowl closer and started to feed the boy who munched happily on his food without making a mess. Nino sighed and carefully balanced Tomoya on his lap to take a small sip of his coffee, grimacing softly at how bitter it was. 

“Is it yummy, Tomoya?” he asked the boy who babbled and then fell against his body when he was finished. He pursed his lips when Nino tried to feed him another spoonful and Nino kissed the top of his head. 

“Okay, let’s clean you up and change your diapers, and then you can sleep again with Papa, how does that sound?”

“Papa,” Tomoya agreed, hugging him around the neck as Nino lifted him with a yawn. He brought him to the bathroom to change his clothes and diapers and wiped him down with a wet cloth to make sure that he felt fresh. He checked his temperature, being happy that it was a bit lower than the day before and carried him back to the bed. He kissed Ohno’s forehead who blinked once and handed Tomoya over. 

“He wants to sleep with his papa. I’ll go take a shower,” he mumbled, and Ohno nodded as he put Tomoya down on the bed, patting his side until Tomoya fell asleep. Nino grinned and vanished for his shower before preparing breakfast when he heard Ohno leaving the bedroom to go shower himself.


	23. Chapter 23

Ohno sat down at the table which was filled with a fully cooked Japanese breakfast and hummed in delight, even if there was a worried frown on his face. 

“What is it, old man?”

“Are you sure you want this?”

“You at my breakfast table, eating? Yes, pretty sure. I would mind throwing it all out.”

Ohno made a face at him as he started on the food and sighed a bit. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Nino was silent for a moment before he sighed. “I know, Oh-chan. But I’m sure, okay?”

“It can get worse. More sleepless nights.”

“That I share with you, and I rather have a sleepless night because of your baby boy than because of too many games, or too much work.”

“But that comes on top.”

“Satoshi,” Nino said, putting down his chopsticks to take Ohno’s hand. “Hey, look at me.”

Ohno bit his lip and put his chopsticks down as well as he met Nino’s face. “I don’t want you to regret this,” Ohno whispered. “You’re young. You need the sleep and Tomoya… He has never been in your life plan.”

“That’s true,” Nino said and watched him for a moment. “But neither was Arashi or you, to begin with. And I regret neither. Yes, some days are hard, and yes even before all this there were days where I just wanted to kick or hit you because you were stubborn. Some days I want to turn around and walk away from all the stuff to do with Arashi and the agency and all. And I’m sure there will be days when I have a headache or am tired or stressed and where Tomoya will get on my nerves, and I wished to walk away from you, from him from everybody.”

He took a deep breath and caressed Ohno’s palm. “But, I love you, I love Tomoya, and I love Arashi. And that is more important. There are many more days than those where I enjoy us all being together, the times I will never be close enough to you, get enough kisses, share enough secrets. There are many more times where Tomoya makes me smile because he is so cute and lovely, more days where I just want to hug the hell out of him. After all, he is your son. I can’t wait to see him grow more, see how he gets more and more like you and if he maybe picks up my traits or not and how he will become his very own person. There are so many more times, and I want to hear and see you all laugh and have fun, dance around, sing loudly and as if you are totally tone-deaf. It is normal to have both good and bad. And I want this. I want both. I want the good times, the bad times, the horrible times and the perfect times.”

Ohno ducked his head shyly as he felt his heart flare-up. He wanted the same so much, but he was still scared. He knew how hard it was to give it all up for Tomoya, his own son. “I can’t believe you would give up part of your freedom, your life for a child that is not yours.”

“But I gain so much more than I lose, Satoshi,” Nino smiled. “Do you feel as if you lost something when Tomoya came to you?”

Ohno nibbled his lip and then slowly shook his head. Not in the big picture at least. Not now that he had Nino back, of course, there were things he couldn’t do anymore, but… But… he thought and looked up at Nino who was meeting his eyes with a small smirk on his face as he realised what Nino was talking about. He relaxed and shook his head. 

“Sorry, sometimes it’s just hard to accept that it’s so perfect now. I feel like there needs to be a big, but in it all, but it’s not coming.”

“And it won’t. I promise, Satoshi. Tomoya is your son. I love you, I love the little sunshine he is, and I’m ready to raise him with you as far, or much you allow me.”

“You do know that if we are moving in together, he will grow up with you as a second parent, right? I won’t ever think of you as anything else, so don’t you dare to start asking me for permission to do anything with him you feel is right.”

“Right,” Nino chuckled. “Still you are going to be the bad parent,” he teased. 

Ohno chuckled and pursed his lips. “I’ll try my best.”

Nino chuckled and squeezed his hand. “Stupid, now finish your food, then you can clean the mess up, and I go lie down for a bit again before we start with the day.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ohno agreed, feeling very giddy at the thought of choosing their home later today.

—

“You look so cute with the baby sling,” Ohno cooed as he helped Nino into the car of Kondo after greeting the women. “Right, Kondo-san?”

The woman chuckled slightly at the half-embarrassed, half-annoyed look on Nino’s face and the clear love-struck look on Ohno’s face. 

“Yes, Ohno-san,” she agreed then though and chuckled when Nino huffed slightly.

“Why am I wearing this? I thought you were carrying your son around,” Nino asked with a huff. 

“Because he wanted his Nino and not his old papa, right, Tomoya?” he asked the boy, caressing the round warm cheek of the drowsy toddler, who just pressed his face into Nino’s shirt.

Nino clicked his tongue and rubbed his eyes. “He needs to go into his carrier now either way,” he said, already flinching at the thought of a crying boy when he needed to let go of him, but there was no helping it. It was safer for him to be in the baby seat than in his arms. 

Luckily the first apartment wasn’t too far from his home, and soon enough Tomoya was bag into the baby sling and sucked at his pacifier as they entered the flat. 

Ohno took Nino’s hand in his own as they wandered through the rooms and talked silently about the apartment and the layout as they looked around. Kondo was talking to the real estate agent, and Nino knew the woman was grilling him about security measures and readying any documents that made sure that the man would stay silent. He grimaced and new that they should probably go to the agency right on Monday to plan everything for a press conference. 

“What do you think?” Ohno asked, tugging softly at his hand in his own. Nino blinked and looked around the room they were in. 

“I’m not sure,” Nino mumbled with a wrinkled nose. “It’s so close to the centre which is great for work, but…”

“But a bit further outskirts would be nice,” Ohno agreed as he looked around. “And the extra room for our hobbies is too small. I think it’s meant to be the baby room, but I want Tomoya to have a bigger room.”

“Me too,” Nino said with a sigh. “With the others as his uncles, he will get a lot of presents, and I don’t want them to clutter the rest of the apartment.”

Ohno giggled but nodded. It was better if they wouldn’t find all kind of toys lying around everywhere when they came home sleep-deprived, much less stubbed toes that way. “I agree. We still take the information, right?”

“Yes, it’s not completely out,” Nino agreed. But it was a close call. The only plus point was that it was so close to the centre and they would be able to get to and from work fast, which was good with Tomoya in tow. 

They went back to the front to thank the man for his time, Nino only half listening since Tomoya was a bit fussy, but he calmed down as they went back to the car and he got something to drink and some apple slices to nibble on. 

“What did you think?” Kondo asked as she sat behind the wheel again to drive them to the next destination. Ohno and Nino exchanged a look, and she chuckled.

“Not what you were looking for then?”

“Not exactly, sorry, but…”

“I know it was on the smaller side, but it’s convenient.”

“That is true, but Kondo-san,” Nino drawled, a slight chuckle in his voice. “We never go for convenience, as you should know.”

“Yeah, with you for sure,” she snorted, and he giggled slightly. He looked out of the window, watching Ohno and Tomoya doing silly faces in the reflection with a happy smile on his face. 

—

Tomoya had fallen to sleep against Nino the moment they stepped into the second apartment. Nino giggled slightly as he swayed the boy somewhat so that he would fall to a more profound slumber, before following Ohno through the rooms, while Kondo stayed back once more to give them the freedom to check out the rooms on their own. 

“The balcony is a bit small,” Ohno hummed, and Nino chuckled.

“I didn’t know you want a big one.”

Ohno shrugged and looked at Nino. “It doesn’t matter, just caught my eyes. I thought how nice it would be to have breakfast outside once in a while.”

“At least there are no holes that Tomoya would fall through,” Nino hummed softly. Ohno wrinkled his nose and nodded with a visible shudder at the thought of that happening. “And the four rooms are bigger than the last ones.”

“True,” Ohno murmured. 

“But?”

“It’s dark,” Ohno sighed, and his face fell slightly. Something just didn’t feel right. He couldn’t put his fingers on it.

“Worse than the first one?”

“Almost,” Ohno said with a sigh. “You like it more, right?”

“Yep,” Nino said with a small smile. “But if you don’t feel comfortable.”

“I could get used to it,” Ohno said sheepishly. “If you like it?”

Nino sighed and stepped closer to the other to tug softly at his shirt. “Oh-chan, breathe. Don’t force yourself to like something. You stepped inside and didn’t feel comfortable, right?”

“Right,” Ohno admitted. 

“Then it’s easy. We won’t consider it,” Nino said and tugged him to the front to apologise to the real estate agent and Kondo that this was not what he had in mind.

They both should like their new apartment, and he was sure if nothing fit today, it was no big deal. They would just look for new ones until they found something.

“Do you need a break before we go to the next apartment?”

Nino shook his head and looked at Tomoya. “Not yet, but Tomo might need a change of diapers,” he murmured with a frown. 

“I can do it when we arrive in the car,” Ohno said with a shrug. 

“Okay, if you say so,” Kondo agreed and drove off to the last apartment for today.

—

Ohno was rocking Tomoya in his arms as the boy had been whining the whole time he needed to stay still for the diaper changing and then started to hit him and Nino when they wanted to carry him with the sling. Ohno had picked him up and brought him without the sling now since he didn’t want him to hit his lover just because he was feeling unhappy.

Tomoya was still grumbling on his arms as Nino greeted the agent and sighed. “May we put him down?” he asked the man, and he shrugged. 

“Sure, the apartment was cleaned just yesterday for today’s tour.”

“Thank you,” Ohno said with a sigh and put Tomoya on his feet, holding his hands so that he could take a few shaky steps. 

Tomoya started to cry out in joy and hopped up and down for a few times before his eyes fixated on Nino, and he dragged (or tried at least) Ohno to the other man. 

“Rascal,” Nino teased the boy and ruffled his hair. “Papa and I need to look around, will you stay put or come with us?”

“With,” Tomoya answered, looking at his father. “Walk!”

Ohno rolled his eyes and looked helplessly at Nino, who sighed. “Tomoya,” he started when Tomoya’s face scrunched up in tears. God, maybe they should have taken up the offer about the break, he thought with a frown. 

“Whatever, we have the time, right?” he asked then more to the agent and Kondo who both nodded as they were the only visitors for today. 

“Of course, here a floor plan for you. Kondo-san asked me about the security protocols and such things and if you prefer we could go down to the office.”

Nino looked at Ohno and then nodded. “Thank you. That would be great,” he decided then and bowed down as the man handed over the documents. They then left, leaving Nino alone with Ohno. 

“This is nice,” Ohno murmured as they stepped further into the apartment. Nino hummed in agreement at the big room they stepped inside. It would be the living room, with one side a whole wall made from windows and on the other side they could peek into the open kitchen, which was rather nice, he supposed.

“I’m pretty sure it’s more expensive than what I told Kondo-san for rent,” he mumbled.

“I’m pretty sure she acknowledged that we are going to live here together and would share the rent,” Ohno argued. 

Nino grimaced and stuck out his tongue at that. “Probably, yes.”

“Tomoya, shall we look at the other rooms? Here it says the second bedroom, that would be yours,” Nino said as he showed him the plan. Tomoya stared blankly at him but then started to walk into any direction he preferred.

Nino giggled as they followed the toddler and looked at the room. 

“This is supposed to be the master bedroom,” Nino mumbled after he had opened the door for which Tomoya had stood on his tiptoes as he tried to open it.

“It’s big,” Ohno hummed as he looked around. 

“And bright,” Nino agreed at the big glass front again. He supposed it was helpful if you had a regular sleep pattern, but it was bothersome if they arrived home only in the mornings.

“True, oh, it has its own bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. Look at that!”

Nino chuckled but followed along with a hum. 

The second bedroom had a walk-in wardrobe as well, but no extra bathroom, which was fine, Nino supposed, as he looked out of the windows. At least the front wasn’t as bright. The third room was the same as the second one but without the wardrobe and only two windows. It was smaller than the master bedroom but bigger than the second bedroom. 

Nino hummed softly as he walked outside again and looked around. The big bathroom was just by the side, and he frowned as he looked at Ohno. 

“How do you like it?”

“It’s big.”

“That’s true.”

“And it has already built in a kitchen.”

Nino nodded as they walked to it and checked the appliances. “They are fairly new.”

“Looks like it, I’m sure Kondo-san could tell us more.”

“Or the agent, which would be his job, I suppose,” Nino said wryly. 

“To be fair, it was very nice of him to leave us alone so that we can look everywhere on our own,” Ohno reminded him and finally picked Tomoya up as the boy stumbled for the third time against his leg and almost fell. 

“True,” Nino said with a small chuckle. 

“The bathroom both have natural light.”

“But only one has a bathtub.”

“Would we need two?” Ohno asked with a snort. 

Nino grinned a bit as he stepped through the living room. “It is big,” he repeated.

“Yes.”

Nino turned around in front of the big window front and looked at Ohno and Tomoya. “Meaning we could invite the guys over.”

“Yup.”

“Which is great because we can make sure that Tomoya gets his sleep on time then.”

Ohno chuckled and nodded as he kissed his son’s forehead as the boy wriggled in his arms before settling down against his father with a yawn. 

“It is far from the centre, though.”

“True almost an hour drive.”

“It will mean we would have to get up early.”

“But the apartment complex has a daycare centre, which would mean it’ll be easy to take Tomoya there.”

Nino nodded in agreement. “And it has a big balcony,” Nino mumbled as he looked out again and opened the door to said balcony. Ohno frowned and followed him outside. 

It was as long as the room and big enough for a table and four chairs on one side and a playpen or something like that on the other side for Tomoya. The wall to the other side was made of glass so that they could see the streets underneath. There was a park nearby they could see, and Ohno knelt on the floor with Tomoya who stared down with big eyes. 

“Papa ant!” he cried out and pointed downstairs.

“Those are people Tomoya,” Nino chuckled as he knelt beside them. “But I suppose they look like ants, huh?”

“Babies? Ant!” Tomoya babbled with a nod and giggle. 

Nino chuckled and tickled the boy when he held out his arms to be held by Nino. 

“Tomoya do you like this apartment?”

“Lik apa,” he agreed. 

Ohno snorted slightly kissing Nino’s forehead after making sure they were still alone in the apartment. 

“Do you like it, Kazu?”

“Very much, you?”

“With a few changes,” Ohno agreed. 

“Which ones?” Nino asked as he placed Tomoya differently in his arms as his body grew heavier as he succumbed to sleep. 

“The master bedroom should be our hobby room and maybe a guest room? We can put up shelves in the middle to separate two spaces a little bit. The wardrobe can be used for clothes out of season. The bathroom is great for guests and me when I paint.”

“And for Tomoya, if he starts liking art as much as you do. We can shower him off before he paints the rest of the apartment,” Nino said with a wry grin. “Same with you. I had too many colourful handprints when you moved in.”

Ohno grinned sheepishly but nodded. “I apologised for that. And I repainted the walls.”

Nino giggled but nodded. “The light is better for art as well, right?”

“Yes.”

“And what else?”

“The second bedroom should belong to Tomoya. It will be good for him when he grows older. Since the third room is bigger, it could be our room? We can put in a wardrobe, and it fits us three nicely for now.”

Nino smiled and moved forward to kiss his lips. “Sounds nice. You know what else is nice?”

“What?” 

“We don’t have neighbours. It’s the whole floor. It says we can put a code for this floor and people without it won’t be able to make the lift stop here.”

“Nice,” Ohno agreed. 

“There is more, you know?”

Ohno chuckled and lifted an eyebrow in question.

“It allows pets.”

Ohno giggled and nodded. “It’s perfect then.”

“It will be,” Nino agreed and sighed as he got up with Ohno’s help, trying hard not to let the boy in his arms fall. “Let’s check where that agent is and if Kondo-san is okay with the security.”

“I’m sure she is.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure I don’t want to know the price.”

“Cheapskate.”

Nino giggled, and they left to look for the other two and tell them that they had already decided on this. Nino felt his heart beat faster as he put his stamp beside his signature on the contract and watched Ohno do the same. This, he realised, was something very special as it was the very first time only their names were combined on a contract and he needed a moment to remember how to breathe. It still felt so unreal, but it was a happy kind of unrealness.

He felt as if they were now a real family for the very first time. And there was no way he wanted to miss this feeling ever again, he thought as he kissed the head of Tomoya in his arms. His very own little family, even if it was not conventional. But whatever was in his life?


	24. Chapter 24

“I might kill someone today,” Nino greeted Ohno at the door and stepped to the side so that the older could step inside. Tomoya was clinging to Ohno’s coat, looking around. 

“Hello, Tomo-chan, did you miss me?” he cooed at the boy and picked him up. He embraced him tightly and giggled when Tomoya squealed as he kissed his cheek. 

“I missed you as well,” Nino said to him and tickled him. “How was your papa’s driving? Did you cry?”

“I missed you too, you know?” Ohno said with a pout and kissed his lips when Nino giggled at the words. 

“I just saw you yesterday,” Nino said with a mock-pout. “Tomoya and I haven’t seen each other for three days now, ne Tomo-chan? Your papa is hiding you from me,” he teased as he walked inside and put Tomoya on the floor who ran over to the small play kitchen that his mother had brought over one day.

“Why are you going to kill someone today?” Ohno asked as he put his bag down and moved his shoulders. Since he had a baby, it seemed as if he always had to take half of his house with him, and even then, he often forgot things. 

“Because it’ll be so hectic. I can’t believe you agreed when my mother asked if she can help. And then Nee-chan decided to come over as well with Satoru,” he groaned. 

“Your family wants to meet Tomoya,” Ohno reminded him and put his arms around his hips. He swayed him slightly from side to side and kissed his neck. “It’s not bad, is it?”

Nino grimaced and then sighed. “Probably not, but… The guys wanted to help also, and it will be so full. It’s so silly. I don’t even have space for so many people around,” he grumbled. 

“They’ll bring food,” Ohno hummed. 

“Small mercies.”

“Aw come on, you are looking forward to your mother’s cooking,” Ohno said, teasing him and Nino grinned as he agreed silently. 

“Of course. Hey, Tomo-chan. Today you get the best food ever,” he exclaimed, laughing when Tomoya looked up and cried out for food.

“Your son is hungry.”

“My son had just eaten before we came over. So it can’t be,” Ohno snorted. “You’re awful.”

“Am not,” Nino giggled. 

“So what do we need to do today?”

“Pack up most of my things, decide if we want to take furniture with us and if so which ones and mark them down for the movers tomorrow,” he explained. “You know, that it would’ve made so much more sense to let the guys come over when we move into the new apartment?”

“I know, but they want to celebrate. And they wouldn’t even be able to help much over there.”

Nino sighed and closed his eyes before he nodded. He knew all of that of course. The others had already taken them out for dinner and celebrated them getting back together, but it had been short and mixed with a feast for their anniversary. 

“Yes, but today is silly. There is nothing we can do with so many people and all those boxes around then.”

“We’ll invite them to the new apartment when we are ready there. For today they can move your heavy stuff, and your mother can cook for us, while Satoru can play with Tomoya. Tomoya is already all excited to meet another toddler just a bit older. And you can babysit and just relax. How does that sound?”

“Actually good,” Nino said after a while, with a small sigh and smile on his face at the thought that he might be able to play with his nephew and the adorable little boy. 

“Also,” Ohno started but stopped for a moment, to drop another kiss on his neck. 

“Also?”

“This means we are finally living together, all officially.”

“Not official,” Nino said with a sigh. “Not yet, at least.”

“Tomorrow we’ll talk to the agency,” Ohno reminded him. 

“I’m scared,” Nino whispered and held tightly to his arm. He was scared that the agency would throw a fit and tell them to break up or something like that. They had decided on the apartment without talking to them first after all. But then it had felt right.

“No need to be, Kazu. We are our own people. They can’t force us to anything.”

“They could forbid us,” Nino mumbled with a sigh. 

“I won’t let them,” Ohno said and tightened his grip. “I’m sorry, but I won’t let them. And it might hurt you, but if I am forced by them to leave you, I won’t. They can throw as many fits as they want.”

“But it could hurt Arashi.”

“It could,” Ohno agreed softly swaying him from side to side. “But they are on our side. They made it clear these last few weeks, didn’t they?”

Nino stared down at the floor, and his eyes caught Tomoya who was busy ‘cooking’ a milk carton in a pan with a small smile as he remembered how they all have helped them to get back together, how great and amazing they were with Tomoya. Then he remembered their promise never to do anything if one didn’t want to or was unhappy with the decision. Giving up their relationship for Arashi would make them all miserable in the end. 

He let out a sigh and nodded. “They did. They are the best.”

“And we are making them a lot of money. They would be stupid to threaten us.”

“True,” he mumbled and then broke out of the embrace when Tomoya called him. He smiled and dropped a kiss on his lips. “Thanks for always setting me straight.”

“Thank you for loving us,” Ohno replied with a laugh, watching Nino and Tomoya play a bit in the play kitchen, before starting to make coffee and tea for their other guests and then busying himself with taking pictures of the very adorable sight.

“Papa cake!” Tomoya declared as he came over with a piece of wooden cake on a pot lid. 

“Oh, did you prepare the cake for me?” Ohno asked and took the piece, making a big show out of eating it, declaring at how delicious it was. 

—

“Baby,” Satoru exclaimed as he ran into the flat, ignoring his uncle and Tomoya stared at the boy with big eyes. 

“Satoru,” his sister scolded and rolled her eyes when she was clearly ignored. 

Ohno chuckled and knelt to his son, who pressed against him and put his thumb into his mouth to suck at it. “Hello Satoru,” he said pointedly. 

“Hello, uncle Toshi. Hello uncle Kazu!” he greeted and waved at Nino who crossed his arms in front of his chest in a mock-glare. 

“Hello, Satoru. Nice of you to find your manners.”

“But uncle, baby,” he explained, pointing at Tomoya.

Nino chuckled and nodded as he led his sister and mother inside, following his mother into the kitchen since she wanted to put away her groceries.

Ohno looked back at the boys with a smile and hugged Tomoya, rubbing his back. “Satoru, this is Tomoya. Tomoya is my son and will live with Kazu and me, ne?”

“Are you and uncle mama and papa?”

Ohno chuckled and shook his head. “That will be hard with us both being men, right?”

Satoru frowned and looked at his mother. “Mama can men have babies?”

“Yes, of course,” she grinned. “Your uncles have a baby now, ne?”

“Uhn,” he agreed with a frown pointing at Ohno. “So you are papa and mama!”

“Nee-chan,” Nino groaned as he stepped inside and she giggled ignoring the words as she ruffled Satoru’s hair. 

“Be a good boy, Satoru. Tomo-chan is still a baby. And you need to be careful, okay?”

“Be careful,” Satoru agreed and held out his hand for Tomoya to take. “Tomo-chan friends?” he asked.

Tomoya looked up at his father a bit insecure, and Ohno nodded in agreement. “You both have fun, okay? And we are all here, so no need for tears,” he reminded Tomoya who sniffled softly but then nodded as Ohno wiped his cheeks. Ohno sighed and ruffled his hair before getting up and then finally greeting the women. He was slightly worried since Tomoya hasn’t been around children so much right now and when his sister had visited, he had mostly hidden on his lap and not played a lot with his niece. 

Nino took his hand and pulled him beside him onto the sofa. “Relax,” he scolded him. 

Ohno grimaced and stuck out his tongue at Nino as he stared at the boys. Satoru was babbling, but Tomoya was still standing and holding tightly onto the kitchen as he stared at him open-mouthed. 

“Kazu is right,” Kazuko said with a sigh. “He can sense your worries, so if you are like this, he will think that things are not okay and be scared.”

“I’m worried that they won’t get along.”

“They are children. They will play together soon enough,” Kazuko said with a chuckle. 

“If you say so,” Ohno agreed after a moment. His mother had told him similar things, but then Tomoya had still been so young that he decided not to worry about it then. Mainly since his sister lived a bit further away and seldom came for visits. The Ninomiya siblings were close on the other hand, and Satoru was a regular visitor in Nino’s household. It would be awful if the boys didn’t get along. 

He groaned when a sharp pain on his ear brought him back into reality, and he rubbed the bite mark, frowning down at Nino who giggled. 

“Sorry, you were spacing out again.”

“I’m sorry,” Ohno apologised to the women who shook their heads. 

“How about we start to pack your things?” his sister asked, and Nino nodded with a sigh. 

“Let’s start,” he agreed, nudging Ohno to go with his mother since it was clear that the woman wanted to talk with his boyfriend, who grimaced softly but then decided to bite the bullet. If there was a problem between them, it was better to clear it right away then to let it brew. 

—

“Tomoya is a cutie,” Nino’s sister said as she sat on the bed, checking the clothes Nino was pulling out of the closet for any holes to throw them out.

“He is a timid little boy,” Nino agreed. 

“Just like his father. He only opens up fully to people he likes, right?”

“I would say so. He is wonderful around me.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you are happy.”

Nino snorted at the words and rolled his eyes. “That’s very sappy coming from you,” he teased. “But you should stop putting things in the heads of the boys. I’m not anyone’s mama.”

“Satoru only knows mamas and papas. Either together or as single parents. Two fathers are nothing that fits his concept.”

“I’m also not Tomoya’s father.”

“Kazunari, really? You are a second parent to Tomoya from now on. If you live together, he will see you as one. You are his caretaker just as much as Satoshi. You should see yourself as a parent figure, promise?”

“I can do that. Still, I don’t like the term mama for me. He has a mother.”

“A woman that doesn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore.”

“Still, she is his mother, and she might want to meet him in future, or he wants to meet her, and Satoshi nor I want to stand in their way then.”

She sighed, but at his look, she nodded in agreement. 

“Is mum mad at Satoshi?”

“No, she just likes to tease, you know her.”

“I do, but Satoshi doesn’t know her as we do,” he reminded her. 

She giggled and nodded. “I think he knows mum well enough, though.”

Nino nodded that was probably true. Ohno was already used to him after all. 

— 

“You want to scold me?” Ohno asked Kazuko with a smile as she pulled out the vegetables for him to cut. 

“No, I think there were already enough people doing so right?”

Ohno nodded with a hum as he washed the bell peppers and then cut them into slices. “But you wanted to talk to me, right?”

“Yes, in away. I wanted to remind you of something.”

Ohno looked up at her with furrowed brows at her words. “What?”

“I entrusted my Kazu’s happiness into your hands when you two first started dating.”

“Yes,” he said with a heavy heart as he looked down. “You asked me never to hurt him.”

“And you promised me you would do that. You broke his heart, though.”

“I’m sorry for that,” he mumbled. “I didn’t want that.”

“I know, which is why I’m not hurting you back. In the end, you both worked out the problems and are now at the start of building a family as three.”

He nodded in agreement. “It’s like a dream.”

“And my son is very happy with you and your little son.”

“I’m happy with them,” he admitted with a shy smile. He was pleased with how his life had turned out so far. “And we are starting a new chapter in our life now.”

“So it seems,” she agreed and sighed as she cut the beef. “So I am here to remind you of your promise. I need you to renew it and to promise me to never break my son’s heart again, or I will hurt you, Satoshi.”

He looked at her seriously and nodded. “I’m surprised I got so lucky and won him back. I will never hurt him again, I promise.”

“Good,” she smiled and pinched his cheek. “And at least some good things had come out of all this chaos. My second grandchild is a wonderful child, and I hope to see him a lot more often from now on,”

“I promise,” Ohno said with a giggle. “He will love his second momma.”

She grinned and then rolled her shoulders. “Now I should go back to cooking. I need you to cut those, and then you can scuttle off, I will need the space to move around.”

“Thank you,” he chuckled and did as he was told before leaving her alone as the doorbell rang and Nino came out of his room to open the door. 

“Oh you survived my mom?”

“Very funny,” Ohno said with a chuckle. “She’s not scary…” Ohno paused for a moment, thoughtfully. “Okay she can be scary. But she just wanted to tell me was, how cute Tomoya is and that she’s happy for us.”

“He is the cutest,” Nino agreed with a giggle. Ohno chuckled and kissed his cheek, before checking on his son, who was now playing with Satoru, both of them giggling and lost in their world as Nino let in the other guys and they started to pack boxes in earnest until dinner was ready. 

After dinner, Nino’s mother and sister bid their goodbye and Ohno put Tomoya to bed, as the others sat around the low table with a can of beer.

“Why aren’t you gone yet?” Nino asked with a pout as he sat between Aiba and Jun after he had kissed Tomoya goodnight and let the father-son pair alone so that Ohno could read him a story. 

“Because Leader texted us that you were worried, and we wanted to talk about tomorrow.”

Nino grimaced. “Blabbermouth,” he said with a sigh. 

“Still, it has to do with Arashi so we should talk,” Jun decided, ignoring his unhappy pout.


	25. Chapter 25

“What are you glaring at me?” Ohno asked in amusement as he came back and climbed on the sofa behind his lover to hug him. That way, there was still enough space for the rest, and he knew that they would need to have more furniture for assembles like that. He grimaced slightly at the thought of not being able to head out early anymore. 

“You told them that we would tell the agency?”

Ohno stared at him in confusion for a second before he was brought back to the present. 

“Of course, I did,” he said. “You were getting worked up, and I thought it would be only fair to tell them.”

“It might impact Arashi,” Jun repeated, and Nino stuck out his tongue to the other man at his words. 

“But it’s a private matter,” Nino started with a sigh but then nodded. He saw their point. He rubbed his face and only relaxed when Ohno started to rub his shoulders. 

“So what are your plans?” Sho asked after a moment of silence that Aiba had used to refill their drinks with a grin. 

“We will go to Johnny tomorrow and tell him,” Ohno said with a shrug. “What else is there to do?”

“You are serious right?”

“You talk to the person who has taken a baby with him to the agency to tell them he has a baby,” Nino snorted.

Jun paled slightly and nodded. “True,” he said. 

“Is it true that the bosses didn’t know about the baby?” Aiba asked excitedly. 

“He is called Tomoya,” Ohno mumbled. “And I told Takahashi-san. I don’t know how much he told them, but I’m sure they knew about the situation.”

“But you didn’t give a warning yourself beforehand?”

Ohno shook his head as he hugged Nino around the waist a bit tighter. “My mind was very occupied during that time.”

Nino smiled and kissed his cheek. “True. And he is right. We asked for tomorrow’s appointment, so they know something is up.”

“What are you worried about then?” Jun asked, and Nino wriggled uncomfortably.

“They can make our life miserable,” Nino said with a sigh, rubbing his forehead. “Cancel contracts for ads or movies or similar things. They can even forbid us to perform.”

“They won’t.”

“They might tell you it will all be our fault because we are unreasonable, and try to put us against each other.”

“That won’t happen, Nino,” Sho said with a sigh. 

“He’s right, and you know those thoughts are silly. We know the truth, and we are standing by your side. Have right from the beginning,” Aiba said with a grin.

“Well, maybe not from the beginning,” Jun allowed with a wry smile. They had their differences when it had become clear that Nino and Ohno were an item and he had been furious when he first knew about Tomoya, mostly because he knew that it had hurt Nino and would put their group in danger if they split up. “But you should know that we understand your desire to make it official, and we will stand by your side. Will you only tell the agency?”

“No, we will do a press con as well, at least that’s our desire, and I will tell Johnny myself.”

“What about Tomoya?”

Ohno sighed and moved his head from side to side in thought. “I don’t know. I don’t want to put his picture anywhere, but people might see us with the boy.”

Nino nodded, playing with his fingers as he looked at the worried look of him. “I think…” he started carefully, trying to figure out if he was going to offend Ohno or not with what he was to say, but Ohno just watched him curiously and with a small smile on his face.

“I think,” he repeated drawing strength from that as he looked back at the others. “That we should tell them, that Oh-chan has a son, but without pictures of course, and state that nobody is allowed to public images of him. So it’ll be easier to navigate with him around, and it will give us the possibility to plan around him.”

“What will you do with recordings? They tend to go late.”

“Yes, but they are not every day, and for those, either Oh-chan’s or my mother will look after him.”

“And if that doesn’t cut it we have sisters,” Ohno added. “He’ll be fine on those instances. And for all the other things we have to make sure that one of us is home in the evenings.”

“You both sure of that? It will tie you down a lot and hinder you from accepting some jobs.”

“I knew that from the beginning, and I wouldn’t force Nino to say no to anything he wants to do.”

Nino rolled his eyes but didn’t argue that. Regardless of what they wanted to do, they would have to talk about it from now on. That was just how relationships worked in his mind. 

“Then it’s decided. We will make sure to be in the agency tomorrow. I know you won’t need us to talk to Johnny, but we want to be there nonetheless.”

Nino smiled and nodded. “Thank you, guys.”

— 

“Are you sure it was smart to bring Tomoya?” Nino asked as he waved at the boy who was looking around with big curious eyes. 

Ohno sighed and rocked Tomoya in his arms from side to side to keep him calm, even if that probably wasn’t necessary with how curious he was right now. 

“No, but Takahashi-san called and told me to bring him as well since it has to do with him as well.”

Nino snorted as he pushed the button for the lift, poking Tomoya’s cheek as he looked back at them. “What the hell? He is a baby…”

“Toddler…”

“Toddler,” Nino repeated rolling his eyes at the other. “He has nothing to do with it. It’s not as if he works here.”

“I know. But I think I shouldn’t anger them extra with not bringing him. And Tomoya thinks it’s fun being around here, ne Tomo-chan?”

Tomoya squealed slightly when his father talked to him but otherwise stared interestedly at the changing numbers at the screen. 

“When are the movers coming again?”

“Around noon. Mum will let them in,” Nino mumbled with a small frown. He had wanted to do it himself, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Oh, so we can over to the apartment when we finish here?”

“Yes, but we stay with your family for tonight,” Nino agreed. “Tomoya can’t stay in a house that is not ready yet.”

Ohno hummed in agreement when the door opened. They exchanged a small glance before walking over to the office Johnny had asked them to come to. Nino knocked and opened the door when they were asked to come in. 

As soon as the door closed behind Ohno, the older took hold of his hand and squeezed his fingers. Nino shook his head in amusement. Ohno dragged him to the chairs where he sat down and asked the man on the other side if it was okay for them to put Tomoya down. When Johnny gave his okay, Nino helped Ohno to put a blanket on the floor for him with his favourite toys without sounds so that he was occupied. 

Nino sighed as he stared at the boy, wishing for a moment that he was allowed to be like that again, but he knew it was impossible. 

“We wanted to inform you that…” Ohno started, bringing him back from his daydreams.

“You don’t need to tell me about your relationship, boys. Do you really think I didn’t realise?” the man said with a small chuckle to his voice and Nino felt himself blushing. 

“And if that is all you wanted to tell me you can leave right away.”

“No, I want to make it official and ask for your understanding. Nino and I are going to live together soon. We already have an apartment. We will start a family as the three of us,” Ohno continued. 

“I see, and you decided that before asking me?”

“Yes, we did,” Nino said in a calm voice when he felt eyes on him. He met Johnny’s eyes. 

“Regardless of the consequences?”

Nino nodded. “Yes, we had our arguments over the matter and what happened, but they lay in the past, and we are secure in our feelings, and besides, Tomoya needs clarity and stability. We decided to give that to him to the best of our abilities. If we live together, it’s also easier for us to compromise raising him and work.”

A small smile was on Johnny’s lips at those words. “I see what about the fans?”

“We want to make it public. I will also tell them that I have a son, but I want to entrust his privacy and security into your hands as well.”

Johnny hummed thoughtfully and then clapped his hands as he nodded. “Very well. I congratulate you on your decision, and I promise you to make sure that your wishes will be fulfilled.”

He stood and knelt in front of Tomoya who grinned at the man and waved at him. “Hello!” he cried, making Nino chuckled slightly. 

“Hello, Tomo-kun. You have troubled your papa a lot, huh? But at the same time have brought him a lot of luck,” he added as he looked up again. “I will support you where I can. I know that your band members are behind your decision. They already made sure to tell me that.”

Nino snorted slightly and rolled his eyes. The others were such meddling people, he thought sarcastically, but also happily. 

“Since I didn’t give him a birthday present, I would be happy to give you this now,” he explained giving Ohno a small booklet and Tomoya a nicely wrapped gift. “And I also already called the press for a press con this evening. That is why I asked you to bring Tomoya-kun. Not to show him, of course, but I believe you will feel more comfortable having him around.”

Nino whistled softly as the other was very well prepared, but then they should have thought that would happen. “I need you to write a fan mail beforehand of course, and a video with the other members to tell your decision, I want them to make certain they support you. That message will then also be shared with the news stations together with your conference.”

“I understand,” Ohno whispered, and Nino hummed in agreement his eyes on Tomoya, who was shaking the present, and grumbling softly as he tried to open it to no avail. He sighed and slipped to the floor beside him to help him, whispering to him so that Ohno could discuss the last things that were on his mind. 

When they were allowed to leave Nino carried Tomoya who was waving around a yellow fish toy that had been in the box together with a few other colourful animals. Ohno was carrying their things over his arms, looking a bit stumped. 

“What did he give you?” Nino asked as they were back in the elevator all alone, and he could lean against the mirrors. Tomoya looked over his shoulder, touching the mirror babbling as he hid his face, giggling and looking up again. “Playing with mirrors, are you Tomo-chan?”

Ohno chuckled at their antics and then his eyes got wide. “Yes, it’s an account book. Can you believe it? He transferred money in Tomoya’s name in it.”

“Eh?” Nino said surprised, staring at him with wide eyes. 

“Yes, I can’t believe it either,” Ohno groaned. “To be honest, I can’t believe anything of what happened in there.”

“Me neither,” Nino grumbled. “Those idiots. They could have told us that they went to Johnny one after the other.”

“I wonder if they even know that fact between them,” Ohno said with a chuckle. He smiled and moved forward to kiss his lips. “You know what’s good after tonight?”

“What?”

“I can hold your hand whenever I want and kiss you as well whenever.”

Nino chuckled and adjusted his hold on Tomoya who was slowly but surely getting heavy in his arms. “I don’t know about that. I think I will have a say to that.”

“You won’t like it?”

“I don’t like the thought of showing it too openly. Handholding and touches are fine, but kisses…”

“You get too shy,” Ohno teased, moving close to kiss him again. Nino blushed but then ended giggling when Ohno blew a raspberry on his cheek before repeating the process to Tomoya who laughed as well. 

The bell rang, and this time it was Ohno who led the way to their Green Room. 

Tatsuya looked around, but then he whined softly and tugged at Nino’s shirt. “What is it, Tomo-chan?”

“Hun, hun, Nino! Tomo hun hun.”

“Oh, no!” Nino cried out in mock-shock, tickling the boy. “Can you hold on until we are in the Green Room, baby boy? Your papa will warm your food up then. What about your diapers, shall we change them as well?”

“Bum, bum,” Tomo agreed giggling as he hopped up and down on his arms.

Nino flinched softly since that hurt slightly, but he just rolled his eyes and entered the Green Room behind Ohno, greeting the others only with a short ‘hello’. Ohno put down the bag and a mat for him to be able to change Tomoya while Ohno prepared his food so that the boy could eat and play.


	26. Chapter 26

Nino pulled a funny face, grinning when Tomoya clapped his hands giggling loudly as he flailed around and almost fell over. “You silly child. You are really like your papa,” he said as he caught him and ruffled his hair. 

He rummaged through his bag for a toy for Tomoya and put him on a blanket they had brought for Tomoya to play and crawl on. He put him in the middle with the toys and kissed his head. “You be a good boy,” he told him and bopped his nose, before sighing and stretching out his back when Ohno came back inside. 

“Mum said she could make it in an hour,” he announced and Nino nodded. “Takahashi-san is meeting her then at the entry to take her up.”

“What are your plans?” Sho asked when Ohno sat down on the sofa and tugged Nino down beside him. He smiled at them, poking Aiba’s back so that the other would concentrate on them, while Jun was nodding to show them he understood as he looked over some papers strewn on the table. 

“A written message, a video message for the fan club and then in a few hours the press con,” Nino sighed. “Johnny-san already called the stations or whatever,” he said as he wrinkled his nose. He didn’t care about the mechanics adequately. He just knew that he would be told when to go where and until then he should decide what he wanted to say. 

“The written message will be about Tomoya being my son,” Ohno said suddenly. “It makes the most sense since it only has to do with me. If we wrote that we are together per mail, it would be strange if it’s just from one, and writing it together will bring a headache,” he said with a pout.

Nino huffed but agreed with a giggle. The words they would use would be very different, and it didn't sound very good to have to come up with a message together. 

“Short and to the point,” Nino said as he elbowed Ohno who nodded with a pout as he pushed Nino back, causing him to giggle even more. “The video would be us two at least.”

“No, all five of us would make more sense,” Jun interjected, looking up from the papers he had been studying. “To show our support to the fans and make sure that they know we are all behind you. This is not breaking us apart.”

Nino smiled and nodded thankfully. 

“Aww, guys I love this. It’s so sweet,” Aiba sighed. 

“No tears,” Nino said, glaring at him. “No mushy tears because you are a big sap. That would make the wrong impression on people.”

“But it’s sweet,” Aiba said with a pout, wiping away the tears that had indeed sprung to his eyes. Ohno was chuckling and nodded in agreement. 

“It is, right?” Ohno said, hugging Nino tightly. He was just delighted that he was allowed to share his happiness and love with Nino and didn’t have to hide anymore. At least not so much. It wasn’t as if they were going to be all over each other in their shows or concerts from now on. They were still professionals after all. 

Nino rolled his eyes and hit him against the head. “Be serious. Or if you want to be sappy write the note for the fans,” Nino scolded him, pushing him to the table, where Jun had scooted over and made space for him. Ohno pouted but pulled out his sketchbook and a pen to write down the message to their fans, only half-listening to Nino and the other three talking about how they would present themselves the best and the other three promising to be with them during the press con as well. He just hoped his mother would make it in time for that. He wanted to be sure that Tomoya was taken care of here by a person he knew. Their managers were there, he knew, but they would want to be with them and the press, not stay in the back. And there was no way he would allow Tomoya to be in that room then. 

For the video, it would be okay for Tomoya to be in their sight out of the ways of the camera because they would control what got out and what not then. For the more significant conference, Ohno was not so sure that everybody would respect their privacy like that. 

Jun squeezed his shoulders and smiled at him when Ohno looked up worriedly. 

“We got you, you are not alone, right?”

“Right,” Ohno breathed after a moment, looking at the others in the room. They were not alone, and the others were on their side. Something that was such a blessing that it still felt unreal. 

—

_Hello to you all!  
I’m sorry if this is spreading unrest and confusion, but I have an announcement to make:   
Due to certain circumstances, I’m happy to tell you all that I have an adorable son!  
Be assured that this fact won’t influence my work too much. My personal work, as well as the work as a member of Arashi, will continue as it is, while I will take care of my son to the best of my possibilities. I just don’t want to keep this secret from you. _

_Please keep me in your favour._

_Ohno Satoshi_

— 

“Will we send the video and the message of leader together?” Aiba asked as he stared at the mirror to make sure that his hair was as it was supposed to. He stood as he straightened his shirt and looked at the others. 

Nino slowly shook his head from where he was watching Ohno playing with Tomoya on the blanket who had gotten bored and a little bit irritable at being ignored by his father. 

“No, it will be two separate emails,” he said as he looked up again, grinning when Aiba’s much to warm arm was thrown across his shoulders.

“But they will be sent shortly after the other,” Jun added, and Nino hummed in agreement. 

Both announcements belonged together, but at the same time, they did not. For the press conference, they would announce both jointly, but that was mostly down to convenience than anything else. 

“Five more minutes they said,” Sho said as he stepped in the Green Room. He was the last to change into the outfits that the stylists had prepared for them. Or he was supposed to. Ohno had taken off his shirt as not to get it dirty when he played with Tomoya who was babbling again happily. Ohno sighed as he kissed his cheek and blew a raspberry against the skin before he got up and pulled out a box with fruits for him. 

“Hungry Tomo-chan?”

“Nana!” he agreed when Ohno put the box in front of him, and he found the bananas inside to munch on them. 

Nino giggled when Ohno stood to get ready, and he bent to look into Tomoya’s eyes. “Tomo-chan, will you be a good boy and wait here with Takahashi-san? Your momma is not here yet, but papa and I have to work now.”

“Nino, Nana!”

“They are your bananas, so you eat them,” Nino said, carefully moving out of Tomoya’s arms reach as he stood again. Tomoya mumbled in agreement and put the mess in his hands in his mouth. Nino wrinkled his nose and felt slightly sorry for Ohno’s manager to have to deal with that.

“Ready?” Sho asked, and he nodded with a smile as he took the hand that Ohno offered to him. 

“Ready.”

—

“… We have decided to raise Satoshi’s son together, and that it would only fair to make an official announcement,” Nino said as he squeezed Ohno’s fingers and smiled at him for a second, before looking back at the camera. 

“This won’t influence Arashi badly. We have talked with the others, and they were happy for us.”

“They are cute together,” Aiba peeped up, grinning and Nino tried hard not to blush, but he was sure that the tips of his ears were red.

“They are. I feel like a fan whose dream got true. I already loved Ohmiya SK after all,” Sho added and Nino chuckled at the memory of that.

“And of course this won’t change how we interact which each other,” Jun said and the rest nodded. Nino grinned suddenly and looked straight to the camera again. 

“Exactly, Satoshi and I will still fight over Jun-pon, right?” he asked, tugging at Ohno’s hand who looked at him for a second in confusion, before mimicking his grin and nodded. 

“Yup, I won’t lose against you,” he declared. They mock-glared at each other for a second when Jun groaned and hit the back of their heads, telling them off for being idiots. 

“We hope you will still continue to support us and thank you for all your support until now,” Nino said, bowing slightly as did Ohno beside him. 

When they sat up, Sho cleared his throat to signal them to say their goodbyes together.

—

“Give me your phones, right now,” Jun said as they came back to the Green Room, and shrugged off the borrowed clothes. 

“What?” Nino said dumbly as he turned around and looked with a lifted eyebrow at Jun’s outstretched hand. 

Ohno looked just as confused as he was but was already pulling out his phone and handing it over. 

“Nino, hand it over,” Jun repeated, and he rolled his eyes as he did as he was told. 

“Now do something until the conference starts,” Jun said with a grin as he bent over the papers again. Nino rolled his eyes and fell to the sofa with a huff. 

“What is wrong with you?”

“I won’t let you check social media and work yourself into a panic,” Jun snorted. “You need to be level headed for the press con.”

“But it would help to know reactions.”

“Sho or I will tell you,” Jun grumbled, ignoring Aiba’s indignant yell that he could check it as well. 

Nino giggled and looked at Ohno who had gone to the bathroom. “Everything okay?”

“Uhn,” Ohno mumbled and fell on top of Nino who groaned slightly but wormed his arms around the other and caressed his back. 

“Where’s Tomo-chan?”

“Takahashi-san said that mum arrived. Tomoya was huffy, so she took him for a walk. He hasn’t been out a lot today.”

“True,” Nino said with a sigh. “And the tension probably didn’t help.”

Ohno nodded and squished his face against Nino’s neck. “Tired?”

Ohno hummed slightly in agreement, and Nino smiled as he kissed his forehead. “Rest then. I’m sure Tomoya will wake you when he is back.”

Ohno giggled slightly against his skin and soon enough was out on top of him. Nino grumbled slightly as he realised that he couldn’t move that way and waved Aiba lazily over to entertain him, and more importantly, distract him from checking out Jun and Sho. They were whispering to each other while checking their phones now and then to see if the emails were sent out and how their fans reacted. 

A/N: I decided to split this part if I can come up with reactions from fans and reporters part two will be tomorrow


	27. Chapter 27

Aiba stood after a while and a few card tricks from Nino and stretched. “I’ll go check about something to eat. Any wishes?”

Nino shook his head and combed his fingers through Ohno’s hairs. “But if they have curry today for Oh-chan he won’t say no,” he mumbled. 

“Got it, anything for Tomoya?”

Nino giggled but shook his head. “If I know anything about Oh-chan’s mother, she has Tomoya covered.”

Aiba nodded and grinned as he left the room to check on their catering. Nino sighed and played with Ohno’s hair. He smiled when Ohno moved on top of him, pressing his lips against his skin with a soft hum. 

“Awake already?” Nino asked in a whisper, and Ohno grumbled sleepily. Nino took that as a no and hugged him, watching Sho and Jun checking the notes for whatever kind of work. Nino hadn’t listened to any explaining earlier, his mind occupied with today and the announcements. And honestly, Jun had given up pretty soon to try to make him participate or explain more.

Jun looked at him, and Nino frowned slightly. “And how is it?” he asked. 

“You want to read some comments?”

Nino grimaced but then nodded. “Sure.”

— 

_Ohmiya is true! I knew it! Congratulations._

_XX_

_I can’t believe this is true. For sure they are trolling us. Will Ohmiya SK come back?_

_XX_

_The baby is probably adorable. Wish we can see him. Congrats to being a daddy and for your relationship._

_XX_

_I hope this won’t affect Arashi. Otherwise, of course, I wish you all the best._

_XX_

_Eh?! A baby? Wonder who the mother is, and what she thinks about her baby being raised by a homosexual from now on._

_XX_

_Congratulations!!! I’m so happy for you._

_XX_

_Oh, my God! We have another day to celebrate now!!!_

_XX_

_I’M A HUGE FAN OF OHMIYA SO I WISH ALL THE HAPPINESS!! And that all Arashi won’t stress themselves out and relaxes! We love you all._

_XX_

_OHMIYA IS REAL! Sure it’s not the son of you and Nino?_

_XX_

_Ignore all the hate that might come. Hope you are doing good. At least the baby has lots of great uncles for babysitting, right? Don’t overwork yourself. We, your fans, will understand if you have to step back from some things. Still looking forward to your drama!_

_XX_

_Well, there goes a band I really loved. But can’t support you from now on._

_XX_

_When will be the wedding?!_

—

Nino blinked as he stared at the mostly complimentary messages on Jun’s phone. He then showed them to Ohno who had lifted his head sleepily. 

“There are a lot of negative as well, right? You just choose to screenshot the positive ones?”

“As if,” Jun snorted and rolled his eyes. “Yes, there are negative ones, of course, and of course there are trolls who are awful, but the positive ones are much more. If I gave you one bad one for each good one, it would have made a wrong balance. They are not the same amount.”

“You sure?”

“So far as I’ve seen. It’s the same for you, right?” he asked Sho, who nodded in answer with a grin. 

“Yep. They are just as big Ohmiya SK fans as I am. We are rooting for our ship,” Sho teased, grinning when Jun rolled his eyes and hit his head. 

“You’re an idiot, you know?” he asked, shaking his head when Sho just grinned at him. 

Nino was giggling slightly, hiding his face behind a hand. Ohno gave Jun the phone back, a pleased look on his face. 

“Told you it was the right decision,” he whispered against Nino’s ear who nodded helplessly. He didn’t know what he did to be so blessed. Ohno smiled softly and kissed his lips before finally rolling from Nino’s body and helping him up to a seated position. When Nino flinched slightly, because of the pressure on his lower back, Ohno rubbed his back and kissed his forehead in silent apology. 

Nino waved him away and stood to start to do some stretches. He had started those again when it had become clear that he and Ohno would stay together and he had to take care of a little toddler that liked to be carried around. He didn’t want to be a nuisance because of his back. And even if Ohno wouldn’t be bothered Nino knew he would feel bad. 

The door opened, and Nino looked up as he heard the happy babbling of Tomoya. He got up from his place on the floor when Aiba appeared behind Ohno’s mother talking to the woman and laughing softly. 

“Hello, my dear,” she greeted Satoshi and kissed his cheek before handing Tomoya over to his father, who held out his hands to him. 

“Hey, thank you for coming over so quickly,” Ohno mumbled rocking Tomoya on his arm who was still talking to his father and tugging at his shirt. Ohno chuckled and looked down at Tomoya, making appreciate sounds to his talk. Nino chuckled at their antics and greeted the woman as well as she came over to him to kiss his cheeks as well in greeting. 

“I read your letter and saw the short video. You were very to the point. It was good,” she praised them, and Ohno blushed slightly. “Really, I feared that you would apologise too much and give the feeling that you are sorry for it all more than happy.”

“It’s not easy,” Ohno said with a frown. 

“It never is,” Aiba agreed as he pushed Sho with his foot. “Make space on the table,” he huffed, and Nino looked up for the first time in surprise, as he saw the amount of food Aiba was somehow balancing on his arms. 

“What did you do?”

“Brought food,” Aiba said with a giggle. “I told you. And you didn’t tell me what you would like so I brought everything that looked good. We can have a feast while we wait,” he declared, grinning thankfully to Jun, who even if he looked a bit annoyed put away the papers and helped him to put the containers on the table. “Ohno-san, you can take whatever you want as well. Nino mentioned you brought food for Tomo-chan probably, but I still tried to find things that he could eat if not,” he explained, grinning proudly at his feat. 

Nino giggled as he tickled Tomoya who was staring at the food and tugged excitedly at the shirt of his father to get him to feed him. “Hungry Tomo-chan?” he teased the boy, who frowned but then agreed loudly. 

“Let’s eat then,” Sho said with laughter in his voice as he checked the time. Only two hours more to go, and he was feeling slightly nervous about the press conference. He knew that nothing bad was going to happen, because they wouldn’t allow it. But even if they had done such discussions for years now, there was nervousness in all of them because they never knew fully what to expect in the end until it was over. 

—

Nino was standing close to Ohno and slightly bumping his shoulder to show him that he was there for him. The rest of Arashi was around them with Sho and Aiba on Ohno’s side and Jun on his side, which was good. Nino appreciated the sharp tongue of Jun more than the friendly guidance or acceptance of Aiba in such moments, while Ohno might need the hug that Aiba usually offered even during such instances. 

“Thank you for attending at such short notice,” Nino said and bowed with the rest. “We are sorry for all the trouble we put you into.”

He waited until the first murmurs died down and smiled for a second. He and Ohno had decided that he would explain about their relationship first before Ohno talked about Tomoya, and then the rest was up for questions. 

“As we have already informed our fans via the fan club, Ohno Satoshi and me, Ninomiya Kazunari, are in a relationship and will move in together at the end of the week to start our new life,” he said slowly, looking at Ohno who stiffened slightly. 

He had told Tomoya to be a good boy and had hugged him tightly before coming here just as if he feared that the boy would be gone when they were gone. Nino didn’t know where the fear came from, but he knew that Keiko was watching with Tomoya in their Green Room and there was no way that anybody would be allowed to take the boy with them under her watch. 

“I am happy to tell you that due to circumstances I’m going to take care of my son from now on. As we will live together, we agreed to raise him together to the best of our abilities to give him a stable environment.”

“We as Arashi have talked about that decision, and the other members have readily agreed to support us. So we’d like to ask you for your support as well,” Nino ended, and the other three nodded as they watched the reporters talk in murmurs for a second before a manager stepped forward to open the room for any questions. Nino tried hard to school his face into indifference or polite friendliness. There was no script or no-good questions, so it was nerve-wracking as to what they would come up with. He just hoped his brain would not short circuit at any question so that he could step in if Ohno were lost due to any question. He wanted to protect that man at his side. 

“Ohno-san? How old is your son?”

Ohno frowned for a fraction of a second and Nino tried hard to giggle. Ohno sometimes forgot how old he was so it was no surprise for him that he could get confused with how many months the boy was, but it would throw a bad light on him. “He is 21 months old right now,” Ohno explained calmly. “He was born in January.”

Nino nodded in agreement, his fingers brushing over Ohno’s as he listened for the next question. It was hard for them to tell not too little but also not too much and he wished they could keep it all to themselves, but then this would have been stupid. They wanted to tell the press enough so that they wouldn’t try to get any information in another way, while at the same time not revealing too much from their private lives. This was a part Nino hated the most in their jobs. The balance was always hard and a reason he ever made answers up as he went along, not caring what was real and whatnot.

“Since he is still so young, won’t it affect your work a lot? How will you be able to continue your work while at the same time taking care of a toddler?”

“It will be harder, yes. But we have a great variety of support around us so that we should manage to balance work matters and private matters as we have until now.”

“How long are you in a relationship for?”

“We are together for a while now, but since the boy came to our life we wanted to make sure that he has a stable family to grow up with so of course we talked about our next steps before taking this jump to make it all official.”

“How did the child come to you?”

Nino bit his lips as to not start with how children were made and looked at Ohno for his answer. 

“His mother trusted him to me. I can’t say more about her reasons, but that I am delighted that he came into my life.”

“Yes and what is with his mother, does she agree for him to be raised by two men?”

Ohno and Nino exchanged a look and Ohno took a shaky breath for a second as he thought this over. He knew people would want to know about the woman, but there was not much he could give them. 

“Since she gave him into Ohno-san’s care, I don’t think she would mind too much as long as he is taken care of. But we won’t enclosure anything about that woman since she is not a public figure and ask you to respect her privacy,” Sho said calmly. Nino looked at him thankfully as he nodded in agreement. 

“That is right, we can’t and won’t talk in her name,” Ohno said after a moment of thought. “Any other questions?”

“Aren’t you worried about the fan’s reactions about the news of your relationship and your son?”

“Of course, we were worried,” Nino said. “But so far the majority of our fans reacted positively. They seem to be happy for us and continue to support us, for which we are very thankful. We had been apprehensive about disappointing them, so we are delighted that the opposite seems to be true.”

“And we hope that they continue to support us. We are determined to show them that their trust in us is not falsely given.”

“Will you show pictures of your son to the public Ohno-san? I’m sure your fans would love to see him.”

Ohno shook his head. “I don’t have any plans of doing so. Right now, my highest priority is his safety and to ensure that can calmly raise without being under the eyes of millions. But if he shows any desires to work in the same industry, I won’t stop him. But for now, he is just a normal boy, and since we all don’t mix our private and work lives, I see no reason to change that.”

“Also it is against the agency’s policy to enclose our private lives with some exceptions of course, and that entitles, of course, Ohno-san’s son,” Jun added with a smile and Nino held back a snort as the threat in Jun’s words were clear to any of them that Johnny won’t sit back if people went against those words. 

“What were the reactions of Johnny-san himself?”

“I’m sure he will make a statement himself, but all I can say so far is that he supports us and our decision to raise my son,” Ohno explained. 

Nino nodded in agreement. He was still a bit surprised about the easy acceptance of the other, but also very happy about it. 

“The last question please,” their manager reminded the press, and Nino sighed softly. He was looking forward to ending this. 

“This is a question for the other members,” One man said, and Sho nodded agreement after a look to Ohno and Nino. Ohno visibly relaxed at the thought that nobody would ask him anything else. Nino chuckled slightly, and Ohno pinched him slightly in the side while being careful as not to be seen by the press. 

“What were your thoughts when you first got to know about the relationship between Ohno-san and Ninomiya-san and on top of that of Ohno-san’s son?”

“We are happy for them and support them the best we can. Of course, they will have to do the most to juggle work and their private lives, but we are sure they’ll manage.”

“Aiba-san is right. We also are willing to plan accordingly to their free time, to make it as comfortable as possible, but we all agreed to prioritise Arashi at all times. Ohno-san and Ninomiya-san promised us to make sure to follow our schedule to their fullest. That also means that all concerts and shows will continue as planned.”

“And their happiness is our happiness, the same with Ohno-san’s little son, which we acknowledge to be their son since they raise him together is such a cute little boy that lights up any room when they enter as a family.”

Ohno grinned happily and took Nino’s hand in his own as the reporters thanked them and they bowed deep saying their thanks. Ohno’s manager ushered them out of the door and as soon as the door was closed and they on their own they all relaxed and giggled as they high fifed each other. But soon enough Ohno’s arms closed around Nino to kiss him in happiness before tugging him along to their Green Room. Ohno’s mother congratulated them again, but Ohno didn’t even listen, as he picked up his beloved little boy and swung him from side to side, smiling when the boy giggled happily. “Let’s get you home, baby boy. You need your sleep. And we’ll bring Nino as well,” he explained. 

Tomoya cheered happily, and Nino caught the flailing arm to kiss his fingers. “Let’s go home,” he agreed, before thanking the others again who grinned before they said goodbye to each other. They were all glad that this day was finally over.


	28. Chapter 28

Nino looked up from where he was trying to prepare their dinner when a sharp cry cut through the silence. He rubbed his eyes and sighed softly. Tomoya had been ill all night and all day, and slowly but surely Nino just wanted to curl up somewhere and cry together with the little boy. 

“I hate daycare,” he mumbled to himself as he put the knife down and walked over to the bedroom. The movers had done wonders with putting their furniture where they wanted it and even putting it all together. After the press conference life had gotten hectic again - no surprise there really - as there had been a few special TV appearances from him and Ohno, neither of them really wanted to fulfil them, but if it helped to make them accepted they would do them. 

Together with drama recordings on Nino’s end he had little to no time in the last month to help much with the moving and overseeing everything so he had gridded his teeth and agreed with Ohno that paying more for the movers, and delivery guys for their new stuff were the only logical decision so that they wouldn’t have to do everything themselves. 

Ohno had spent two days with their mothers to unpack their boxes, and Nino had been surprised at how happy he had been to come to the flat and feel home. He had told Ohno they could do it later together, but Ohno had wanted to surprise him.

A small smile appeared on Nino’s face as he thought of the face his lover had made when he had come home that night. He had been tired and annoyed since filming had taken longer than usual, which had meant an unplanned overnight stay in a very uncomfortable bed with too little sleep. A small part of Nino had been annoyed at the thought of coming home to the mess their apartment had been, with all the boxes lying around and piles of clothes, toys and other stuff they had pulled out in search of a specific item they needed that day. 

When he had opened the door, Ohno and Tomoya had greeted him at the door, Tomoya demanding to be carried by Nino which he did, of course. Ohno had looked shy and almost apologetic when he brought him into their home, their very tidy home at that. Nino thought that Ohno looked like he expected to be scolded or Nino to be angry as they didn’t do it together, but the opposite was true. 

He had been just happy and felt like coming home finally after a much too long time. 

Nino was still smiling as he looked down at Tomoya, sighing as he realised that the boy had thrown up again. He quickly took off the soiled jumper and wiped the neck with one of the clean parts of it and then picked Tomoya up, rubbing his belly and bouncing him on his arm, as he hummed lowly in the back of his throat, his lips pressed against Tomoya’s head as he noted down the time. Their doctor had advised them to note down each time he threw up or lost liquid in any other form and how much he drank to make sure he wouldn’t dehydrate.

“Are you thirsty Tomo-chan?” he asked the little boy and handed him the bottle with tea to him. Tomoya grabbed it a bit weakly so that it almost fell and Nino put his fingers under the bottom to keep it in place as Tomoya drank the tea in big gulps. He sighed and felt the warmth through his clothes. 

“I hope your papa will come home soon,” Nino said as he wrinkled his nose. Ohno had to get a surprise, or so he had said, together with a few things for dinner and other medicines for his son. 

“Your uncles will come tonight, Tomo-chan. Not a good day for them to visit ne?” he sighed softly. But it was the only day they all had enough time to meet up for their anniversary. They had agreed to couple it with a house warming party, and on the one hand, Nino was glad that he didn’t need to go out, on the other hand, he worried that it would be too much for Tomoya to take tonight. 

Then again, at home, Tomoya would feel more comfortable with them around than to stay with his grandmother for the night when he was ill. Also, Nino just hoped that the medicine would work fast so that Tomoya would sleep peacefully. 

Nino took the bottle when Tomoya pushed it away, noting down how much he drank, relieved that it seemed enough to keep him hydrated for now.

“Do you want to sleep again?” Nino asked, as he changed his diapers and put a new jumper on, but Tomoya shook his head unhappily as he pressed his face against Nino’s shoulder. “Shall we cuddle on the sofa then?” Nino asked, smiling when Tomoya nodded and hid his face. “Then let’s go baby boy.” 

— 

Ohno huffed softly as he checked the bag with all the necessities again and then the carrier to make sure that the puppy was still okay. He should have agreed to let Takahashi come upstairs with him, he thought with a small frown. 

But no, he had told him that he would manage himself and now he regretted it. He smiled in relief when the elevator opened, and he could step inside before putting in the code for their apartment together with his ID-card. He leant back for a second, putting down the carrier and the bag when he blinked as there was a small sound coming from the carrier. 

He bent down to be on the height of the carrier offering the dog his fingers to sniff on. “We are almost there, little one. And then you can go out. I promise you’ll like it there, ne? And I promise you are very much loved. We have a lot of love to give,” he whispered, his heart pounding slightly at the thought of Nino’s face. 

He knew that another day would have been better for a puppy to come to their home, but they had a few days off now, and that would be perfect for getting the small dog used to them and even after that they would have a few weeks where at least one of them were home. The busiest time was finally over and would stay away until the year would end. 

“Kazu is still going to scold me to bring you home when the guys are coming over. But they are good men. They won’t hurt you, and I promise they won’t get too loud,” he told the dog, feeling just slightly silly as the dog wouldn’t understand him anyway. But he was wagging his tail and staring at him with big eyes, so he decided not to care. 

“I’m home,” Ohno called out when the elevator opened again, and he grinned when he heard the voices of Nino and Tomoya. Tomoya still sounded tired but a bit more chipper than when he had left. “And I brought your surprise.”

“And meds?”

“And meds,” Ohno said with a snort. “And the last ingredients you put on the list,” he added just for good measure. 

“Oh well, I asked Jun-pon to bring food. Tomo-chan has a cuddle bug, so I didn’t get anywhere with the cooking.”

Ohno rolled his eyes as he slipped out of his shoes. He left the bag where it was and opened the carrier to pick up the puppy. He rubbed the top of his head with his fingertips and grinned, as he put a finger in front of his lips. 

“So what is the…” Nino started as Ohno entered their big living room. His eyes widened as he saw the small black and brown puppy in Ohno’s arms. His tail was still wagging excitedly as he looked around himself, sniffling slightly and he almost jumped to his feet if not for Tomoya who was still in his arms. 

“Wan-wan!” Tomoya cried out excitedly. Nino, look. Wan-wan,” he said and hopped up and down in his arms, tugging at Nino’s shirt. 

“I see the dog, baby boy,” Nino said with a chuckle, rubbing his back to calm him down before he could throw up again. 

“Surprise?” Ohno asked as he came over with the dog and put him on the sofa. Tomoya held out his hands to the dog, but Satoshi took him into his arms, looking at him sternly.

“You need to be careful, Tomoya. He is a baby,” he scolded him as he rocked him in his arms. “He is scared of loud voices.”

“Shhh!” Tomoya shouted in agreement, holding his hands in front of his lips. He stared at the dog with big eyes. 

“Why?” Nino asked, allowing the dog to climb on his lap and then lie down with a loud huff and sigh, a small smile was playing on his lips though, so Ohno knew he was not mad at him. 

“Because a dog was missing, right?”

Nino looked up as he carefully caressed the soft fur of the dog and nodded very slowly. “True,” he whispered. “The perfect family now?”

“Only the most perfect things for you, my love. I promised you, right?”

“So you did,” Nino said softly. He moved forward to press his lips against the side of his mouth. “Thank you. Did you get the stuff he needs?”

“Yes, I talked to a breeder to make sure he is old enough to leave his mother and that I have everything. She gave me some of the food he is used to. We can either keep giving him that or slowly change it? Something like that I didn’t get it fully. He is partially potty trained as well.”

“Aren’t we lucky then?” Nino teased with a grin, patting the dog as the dog snored slightly as he had fallen asleep on his lap. 

He looked at Tomoya who was wriggling on Ohno’s arms as he wanted to cuddle with the puppy as well. “Tomo-chan if you let him sleep you can lie down here as well,” Nino offered then. 

“Sleepy-bye,” Tomoya agreed, fighting to keep his eyes open. Nino chuckled as he took him and offered him a drink again. 

Tomoya whined softly but drank a bit until he threw the bottle to the floor and Nino carefully lied him down beside the puppy. Tomoya patted the dog, maybe a bit harder than Nino would have done, but still surprisingly carefully so that the dog didn’t wake, before putting his thumb between his lips as he fell asleep. 

Ohno smiled down at the sweet sight and kissed his lover again. “How was Tomoya?”

“He threw up twice this morning, but he drank a lot. I noted it down there. Can you put the amount he drank just now?”

Ohno nodded with a frown. “I brought porridge for his meal later, and the doctor gave me some suppository for him. It should make him sleepy but help.”

Nino nodded as he leant against him. “Will you set up the puppy’s bed? I’m sure he has one from the breeder’s place?”

“Yup, where do you want it?” 

“For now, here, but there should be a second in the bedroom. When he is still so little, he will need to let out during the night as well.”

“I just have one,” Ohno said with a frown. “And the carrier.”

“Perfect. Carrier in the bedroom, it can be his sleeping place for now. Bed in the living room for his resting place. Make sure to have a blanket we can throw over the carrier to keep the light out. It will help.”

Ohno nodded as he was told and left to prepare. He put the beer he had brought into the fridge as he saw that both, the puppy and Tomoya still occupied Nino. He cleaned up the kitchen, putting everything in the refrigerator so that they could use it another day. Just as he came back to the living room, with two cups of tea in his hands, Nino swore slightly. 

Ohno fastened his steps worriedly and groaned when he saw a crying Tomoya, being bounced by Nino. The puppy was jumping up and down on the sofa, running in circles as he barked at all the chaos. 

Ohno picked up the puppy who calmed down while Nino tried very hard not to grimace when he felt some of the vomit slid down his neck. “You take him out, does he have a name anyway?”

“No, I thought you should do it,” Ohno said with a smile. “It’s my present to you.”

Nino frowned at him, trying hard not to call him out for being lazy because he hadn’t been able to think of any name, as he was reminded of Tomoya, who was still crying. 

“Okay, you take him out for potty, I will clean Tomo-chan and gave him the suppository. Then I would be very thankful if you can take him so that I can take a shower before the guys come?”

Ohno nodded as he picked up the lash to bring the puppy outside. It took a while for the small dog to sniff around and do his business. He brought him back up, where the dog directly jumped into his bed, rolling around and Ohno stared at the adorable sight for a second before he remembered Nino and Tomoya. 

Tomoya was calmer as he laid cleaned up on a cupboard in the bath, and Ohno picked him up to carry him into the kitchen to try and feed him before putting him to bed. He could hear the shower just when the bell rang, and for a second, he thought of just pretending not to be home. This was not a good house warming or time for their anniversary celebration. 

He stared at Tomoya, who was looking sleepy once more when the bell sounded a second time. 

“Satoshi let the guys in.”

“You sure? We are a mess.”

Nino laughed as the water went off, the sound bright and clear. “They won’t mind.”

Ohno nodded, not realising that Nino wouldn’t be able to see him and went to open the door. 

“Where’s Nino?”

“The bathroom. He will come in a bit.”

“I brought food,” Jun announced, stepping around Ohno to go straight to the kitchen. Sho grinned as he greeted Tomoya, smiling as the boy demanded to be picked up. 

“Everything okay?”

“Caught a stomach bug,” Ohno said with a shake of his head. Sho cooed and rocked the boy in his arms as he patted the stomach, murmuring. Ohno smiled as Sho walked into the living room and then outside with the boy in his arms, still talking and calming him down. 

“I brought cider,” Aiba said with a grin. “Great house by the way. Ohhh, puppy!” he exclaimed, and Ohno was left alone in seconds, now a bag of cans in his hands instead of his son. He rolled his eyes when he felt arms around his shoulder.

“Told you, just the guys,” Nino whispered into his ear. Ohno smiled and turned around to kiss his earlobe. Nino was just wearing a blue bathrobe right now, but he smelled clean and of cloth softener and just like home. 

“For a second I feared that I needed to be perfect,” Ohno whispered. The fear was there sometimes, that he was not perfect in the eyes of the others and that someone would take his little family apart. Still, he thought as he looked inside and saw Sho coming back with a sleeping toddler in his arms and Jun scrubbing down their kitchen table while Aiba freed the small table in front of the sofa, for them it would always be enough. 

Nino kissed his cheek and grinned. “Haru…”

“Huh?”

“The puppy’s name: Haru the second. My dream family had a dog named Haru.”

Ohno smiled and nodded as he put an arm around Nino’s waist and brought him in. Nino grinned ignoring the catcalls of the others because of the bathrobe he wore as he took Tomoya from Sho to bring him to bed and change into proper clothes. 

Ohno put the cider in the fridge, staring at the picture of the four men, puppy and toddler. Yes, this was happiness.

— The End —

A/N: I hope this is okay. I know the end is rather awful.


End file.
